The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 10, 2026

A vertically oriented watercolor painting depicts a naturalistic magnolia blossom centered against an off-white background. Smooth, white petals overlap to form a cup-shaped bloom around a ring of orange-brown stamens. Below, a green stem branches into three dark green leaves: two point toward the top corners, while the largest extends toward the bottom right. Fine, dark lines define the leaf veins over smooth washes of green and white.

Magnolia

1800s

Mary Altha Nims

(American, 1817–1907)
America
watercolor
Gift of Richard Seymour Bayham 1934.136
Location: Not on view
  • Henry S. Francis, “Water Colors Made by the ‘Theorem Method’ and Drawings”, The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 21, 1934, pp. 128-131, p. 135. www.jstor.org
  • 19th-Century American Drawings by Mary A. Nims. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 16-November 2, 1934).
  • {{cite web|title=Magnolia|url=false|author=Mary Altha Nims|year=1800s|access-date=10 September 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1934.136