The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Landscape Near Paris

c. 1860

Léon Bonvin

(French, 1834–1866)
France, 19th century
watercolor, gouache, and graphite on cream laid paper
Sheet: 9.3 x 25 cm (3 11/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Gift of Robert Arthur Mann 1977.22
Location: Not on view

Description

In his delicate studies of flowers and fields, like this panoramic view of the distant Paris, Bonvin captured the beauty of nature, observed with an innocent, untrained eye. His untutored responses to nature permitted him to be more experimental than his contemporaries working in watercolor. A realist in his rendering of natural detail, Bonvin simultaneously foreshadowed Impressionism with his interest in light and atmosphere.
  • Jean Paulhan (according to departmental card). [Shepherd Gallery Associates, New York, 1976, cat. no. 20] (catalogue in departmental file)
  • Guichané, Maud, Gabriel P. Weisberg, Léon Bonvin, Jo Briggs, Ger Luijten, and Michèle Quentin. Drawn to the Everyday: Léon Bonvin 1834-1866 : Catalogue Raisonné. Paris : Fondation Custodia, 2022. Reproduced: p. 200, no. 99; mentioned: p. 250, no. 99
  • Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/15/04-11/14/04. "Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century". No exhibition catalogue.
    French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995).
    CMA, French Drawings from the Collection (Dec. 13, 1994-Mar. 12, 1995).
    CMA; Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, The Drawings and Watercolors of Léon Bonvin (Nov. 12, 1980-Jan. 18 1981; Feb. 15-Mar. 27, 1981), no. 33, illus. p. 63.
    Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978).
    CMA, Year in Review for 1977 (Dec. 28, 1977-Jan. 22, 1978), cma Bulletin 65 (1977), p. 39 no. 52, illus. p. 20.
    New York, Shepherd Gallery, Non-Dissenters Fifth Exhibition (1976), no. 20, illus.
  • {{cite web|title=Landscape Near Paris|url=false|author=Léon Bonvin|year=c. 1860|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.22