The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Summer 2001, Volume 47, Number 3
Gregg Hennessey, Editor
Live Oak
Leon Durand Bonnet
American, 1868-1942
Oil on Board, circa 1929
Unsigned
Inscribed on reverse: “Live Oak/circa 1929” and “I certify this to be/ the original work of/ my father Leon Bonnet. [signed] E. Scofield Bonnet”
12 x 16 inches
Courtesy of Estelle and Jim Milch
Ojai Valley
Leon Durand Bonnet
American, 1868-1942
Oil on Canvas, circa 1926
Unsigned
Titled and inscribed on reverse: “I certify this to be the original work of my father, Leon Bonnet. [signed] E. Scofield Bonnet” Inscribed on stretcher: “Sketch Ojai Valley/Property of E. Scofield Bonnet”
20 x 24 inches
Gift of Mr. Bruce Kamerling, 81.81.5
Bonnet, Leon Durand (1868-1936)
Painter
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 12, 1868. Bonnet came from a long line of French artists. His great-uncles Charles and Jean Baptiste Durand were portrait painters and his grandfather, Charles Emile Bonnet, an architect and engineer, was invited from France to assist in designing the U.S. Treasury Building. Leon Bonnet first studied with his father who was a professional artist. He then studied at the PAFA under Eliot Clark and Edward Potthast. He maintained studios in Tuxedo Park, NY and Ogunquit, Maine before settling in San Diego in the late 1920s. His early works were mostly marines; however, in California he concentrated on desert and mountain landscapes. Bonnet died in San Diego on June 22, 1936. Member: California Art Club; Contemporary Artists of San Diego; Fine Arts Society of San Diego. Exhibited: California Pacific Int’l Exposition, San Diego, 1935 (Hills at Bonita). Source: AAA 1921-33; WWAA 1936-37: PAP; Mal: SCA; CA&A.
