Inscribed at lower left in black chalk: "Paris / 12 Sept 1867; in brush and black ink: "Jongkind"; inscribed at right in black chalk: "replier"
According to an inscription at the lower left corner, the location and date of this view was Paris in the year 1867. Jongkind was most preoccupied with the rendering of the purple flowers, possibly thistles, in the center of the sheet, though he also renders a building in the background and a tree at the right. Further reinforcing the location as a garden, he loosely sketched a man with a wheelbarrow at the upper right. Below the man, Jongkind inscribed the word "replier," or to fold, suggesting that the right margin of the sheet was not to be seen by the viewer.
This watercolor and pencil sketch, which is largely unfinished, is typical of the way that Jongkind would sometimes leave evidence of graphite underdrawing in his watercolors. His Barrière de Monceau (1851) now in the Musée du Louvre likewise shows the willful coexistence of both media. The intimate focus on the botanical elements of the drawing is unusual for Jongkind, who usually focused on more expansive spaces in his landscapes. In 1881 Jongkind spent time in Paris, Marseille, and he wintered in Côte-Sainte-André. It is probable that the drawing was produced to document one of those sites.
McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.
Paul Prouté S.A., Paris, dealer.