Study of a Plant, Possibly Thistle

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Neglected within his own time, the watercolors of Bonvin have only come to be fully appreciated in the late 20th century. An artist with little formal training, Bonvin earned a living working in his family’s inn in Vaugirard, on the outskirts of Paris. The landscape near his home and studies of the inn’s garden became his themes. This watercolor was made after the year of Léon Bonvin's marriage, a time when he was increasingly trying to make a living from his art.