diff --git a/pandas/_testing/__init__.py b/pandas/_testing/__init__.py
index d35242ada21e9..85d03ea17bf42 100644
--- a/pandas/_testing/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/_testing/__init__.py
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@
     assert_indexing_slices_equivalent,
     assert_interval_array_equal,
     assert_is_sorted,
-    assert_is_valid_plot_return_object,
     assert_metadata_equivalent,
     assert_numpy_array_equal,
     assert_period_array_equal,
@@ -558,7 +557,6 @@ def shares_memory(left, right) -> bool:
     "assert_indexing_slices_equivalent",
     "assert_interval_array_equal",
     "assert_is_sorted",
-    "assert_is_valid_plot_return_object",
     "assert_metadata_equivalent",
     "assert_numpy_array_equal",
     "assert_period_array_equal",
diff --git a/pandas/_testing/asserters.py b/pandas/_testing/asserters.py
index 430840711122a..1127a4512643c 100644
--- a/pandas/_testing/asserters.py
+++ b/pandas/_testing/asserters.py
@@ -429,28 +429,6 @@ def assert_attr_equal(attr: str, left, right, obj: str = "Attributes") -> None:
     return None
 
 
-def assert_is_valid_plot_return_object(objs) -> None:
-    from matplotlib.artist import Artist
-    from matplotlib.axes import Axes
-
-    if isinstance(objs, (Series, np.ndarray)):
-        if isinstance(objs, Series):
-            objs = objs._values
-        for el in objs.ravel():
-            msg = (
-                "one of 'objs' is not a matplotlib Axes instance, "
-                f"type encountered {type(el).__name__!r}"
-            )
-            assert isinstance(el, (Axes, dict)), msg
-    else:
-        msg = (
-            "objs is neither an ndarray of Artist instances nor a single "
-            "ArtistArtist instance, tuple, or dict, 'objs' is a "
-            f"{type(objs).__name__!r}"
-        )
-        assert isinstance(objs, (Artist, tuple, dict)), msg
-
-
 def assert_is_sorted(seq) -> None:
     """Assert that the sequence is sorted."""
     if isinstance(seq, (Index, Series)):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
index 5a46cdcb051b6..d8c49d6d47f28 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/common.py
@@ -76,8 +76,6 @@ def _check_data(xp, rs):
     xp : matplotlib Axes object
     rs : matplotlib Axes object
     """
-    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-
     xp_lines = xp.get_lines()
     rs_lines = rs.get_lines()
 
@@ -87,8 +85,6 @@ def _check_data(xp, rs):
         rsdata = rsl.get_xydata()
         tm.assert_almost_equal(xpdata, rsdata)
 
-    plt.close("all")
-
 
 def _check_visible(collections, visible=True):
     """
@@ -495,6 +491,28 @@ def get_y_axis(ax):
     return ax._shared_axes["y"]
 
 
+def assert_is_valid_plot_return_object(objs) -> None:
+    from matplotlib.artist import Artist
+    from matplotlib.axes import Axes
+
+    if isinstance(objs, (Series, np.ndarray)):
+        if isinstance(objs, Series):
+            objs = objs._values
+        for el in objs.reshape(-1):
+            msg = (
+                "one of 'objs' is not a matplotlib Axes instance, "
+                f"type encountered {type(el).__name__!r}"
+            )
+            assert isinstance(el, (Axes, dict)), msg
+    else:
+        msg = (
+            "objs is neither an ndarray of Artist instances nor a single "
+            "ArtistArtist instance, tuple, or dict, 'objs' is a "
+            f"{type(objs).__name__!r}"
+        )
+        assert isinstance(objs, (Artist, tuple, dict)), msg
+
+
 def _check_plot_works(f, default_axes=False, **kwargs):
     """
     Create plot and ensure that plot return object is valid.
@@ -530,15 +548,11 @@ def _check_plot_works(f, default_axes=False, **kwargs):
         gen_plots = _gen_two_subplots
 
     ret = None
-    try:
-        fig = kwargs.get("figure", plt.gcf())
-        plt.clf()
-
-        for ret in gen_plots(f, fig, **kwargs):
-            tm.assert_is_valid_plot_return_object(ret)
+    fig = kwargs.get("figure", plt.gcf())
+    fig.clf()
 
-    finally:
-        plt.close(fig)
+    for ret in gen_plots(f, fig, **kwargs):
+        assert_is_valid_plot_return_object(ret)
 
     return ret