Artwork
Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums
Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums is an unspecified painting by the Realist artist Léon Bonvin. It dates from 1862 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
A small watercolor of a vase of tiny chrysanthemums, painted by Leon Bonvin around 1862. Bonvin worked mostly in watercolor rather than oil and died young, at 32. It is a quiet still life, modest next to the larger works around it.
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a modest arrangement of small chrysanthemums placed in a vase upon a tabletop, exemplifying a conventional still-life composition.
The painting presents a modest arrangement of small chrysanthemums placed in a vase upon a tabletop, exemplifying a conventional still-life composition. The flowers are rendered with delicate watercolor washes that emphasize their fleeting presence. This subject reflects the mid-19th-century interest in ordinary domestic scenes and the study of botanical detail.
Bonvin's work, executed in 1862, is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the institution's collection of European drawings and watercolors.
Technique & Style
Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums is a mid-19th-century still life executed as a watercolor painting by Léon Bonvin in 1862. The work depicts a vase of chrysanthemums arranged on a table, rendered with the transparency and fluidity characteristic of the watercolor medium. Created during the artist's short career, the piece reflects his self-taught approach to capturing floral subjects.
The composition is compact, measuring 15.5 cm in height and 14.9 cm in width, focusing intently on the bouquet and its immediate setting. Held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the artwork exemplifies Bonvin's dedication to humble, observational subjects typical of his style.
History & Provenance
Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums was created in 1862 by the French artist Léon Bonvin, who was largely self-taught and executed the work in watercolor. The painting is presently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The known provenance therefore traces directly from the artist to its current institutional home.
Context
Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums (1862) is a watercolor still life by Léon Bonvin, recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection and described in the artist's catalogue entry as a modest domestic scene. The work, classified as a painting, portrays a vase of chrysanthemums on a table and belongs to the still-life genre documented in the artist's oeuvre. Bonvin, born in 1834 near Paris, was largely self-taught, experienced financial hardship, and remained little recognized during his lifetime, dying by suicide in 1866.
Critical reception of the painting has been limited, surfacing mainly in recent museum inventories and scholarly references to Bonvin's overlooked career.
Overview
Léon Bonvin's "Bouquet of Small Chrysanthemums" is a mid-19th-century watercolor still life. This modest work, created in the 1860s, depicts a vase holding delicate flowers on a table, showcasing the artist's preferred medium and intimate scale. It is currently part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing a quieter aspect of its extensive holdings.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Charles Léon Bonvin (February 28, 1834 – January 30, 1866) was a French watercolor artist known for genre painting, realist still life and delicate and melancholic landscapes.
