The Use of Tears
Richard Parkes Bonington·c. 1815
Historical Context
The Use of Tears is an early work, possibly from Bonington's student years in France. The young English painter, who had moved to Calais as a teenager and then to Paris, developed precociously under the influence of both English watercolor tradition and the teaching of Baron Gros at the École des Beaux-Arts. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays luminous, atmospheric color applied with the freshness of watercolor in oil painting, alla prima technique that captured the transience of light on water and architecture.
Technical Analysis
The painting shows the developing artist exploring figure subjects with the sensitivity to light and color that would characterize his mature landscape and marine paintings.
