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Farm Building

Léon Bonvin1865

The Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, United States

Léon Bonvin was born in Vaugirard, just outside Paris in 1834. Despite displaying great talent in the medium of watercolor he was largely unrecognized by his contemporaries. In 1866 he hanged himself at the age of 32, apparently due to financial difficulties. Working at his family's bar or "cabaret," he sketched and painted watercolors only in his spare moments, yet in the seven year period between 1859 and his death he created numerous exquisite still lifes of flowers and fruits, and subtle landscapes capturing fleeting atmospheric effects. There is evidence that, despite his rural home, Bonvin did have knowledge of the art world in Paris. His half-brother was the better known artist, François Bonvin. In addition Bonvin's still lifes show the influence of Jean-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779), whose work was undergoing a revival in the 1850s and 60s.

During the 19th century an appreciation of Bonvin's work was confined to a small circle of connoisseurs and collectors, most prominent among them William T. Walters, father of Henry Walters, founder of the Walters Art Museum. For much of the 19th century William displayed and stored his watercolors in a deluxe leather-bound album with a specially commissioned frontispiece and tailpiece by the renowned flower painter of the Lyon school, Jean-Marie Reignier (see WAM 37.1501 and 37. 1531). William's collection of Bonvin's work was acquired between 1862 and 1891, and eventually comprised 56 watercolors and one, rare oil; today, this is the largest collection of Bonvin's work in existence.

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  • Title: Farm Building
  • Creator: Léon Bonvin (French, 1834-1866)
  • Date Created: 1865
  • Subject Keywords: peasant; farmer; landscape
  • External Link: For more information about this and thousands of other works of art in the Walters Art Museum collection, please visit art.thewalters.org
  • Roles: Artist: Léon Bonvin (French, 1834-1866)
  • Provenance: William T. Walters, Baltimore, before 1885 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
  • Object Type: watercolors
  • Medium: watercolor with gum heightening, gouache details, iron gall ink and pen over graphite underdrawing on slightly textured, moderately thick, cream wove paper
  • Inscriptions: [Signature and date] In brown ink, lower right: Léon Bonvin 1865; [Number] In graphite below center, verso: 1#; [Inscription] In graphite, center upper edge, verso: Bonvin's house & garden - near Paris
  • Exhibitions: A Vanishing Meadow: The Watercolors of Léon Bonvin. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1994., Léon Bonvin (1834-1866). Government House, Annapolis. 1997., The Essence of Line: French Drawings from Ingres to Degas. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma. 2005-2006., Near Paris: The Watercolors of Leon Bonvin. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2012.
  • Dimensions: H: 7 7/8 x W: 6 1/4 in. (20 x 15.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Acquired by William T. Walters, before 1885
  • Classification: Painting & Drawing
  • Accession Number: 37.1645
The Walters Art Museum

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