While unconventional in her ambitions and personal conduct, Bonheur was traditional in her working method. She studied her subjects carefully and produced many preparatory sketches before she applied paint to canvas.
In , Bonheur won a third prize, and in , a gold medal. Rosa Bonheur created Sheep by the Sea following a trip through the Scottish Highlands in the summer of In painting this complacent flock of sheep settled in a meadow near a body of water, Bonheur captured a placid moment.
Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Hall W. Art History Expert. Rockefeller is a writer and art historian, specializing in the work of woman artists from to the present. Updated April 18, Considered the most famous female painter of the 19th century.
Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Rockefeller, Hall W. Biography of Rosa Bonheur, French Artist. Biography of Edith Wharton, American Novelist. Biography of George Stubbs, English Painter. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo.
At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Although she never married, Bonheur's friendship with Micas continued to deepen and the two women lived together. Bonheur's personal habits aroused public curiosity, but she consistently maintained that her behavior was itself a form of performance art whereby she demonstrated that impersonating a man was the only means available to a woman wishing to secure social and professional equality.
Similarly, Bonheur never discussed her sexual preferences and such questions were not asked of her given the prevailing mores of the era. As such, she has secured listing in some modern directories of gay and lesbian historical figures, although the true nature of her relationship with Micas was never made clear. Bonheur's playful attitude regarding her public persona was exemplified by her reception of an portrait of herself by Louis Dubufe.
In the painting, Dubufe portrayed Bonheur in a standing position, with her arm resting on a table. Bonheur was pleased with the portrait but painted over the table, replacing it with the forequarters and head of a large, red bull.
The result was a whimsical painting which summarized Bonheur's art as well as her personality. In fact, when Dubufe sold the painting to a collector and explained Bonheur's changes, the collector, who paid francs for the painting, sent Bonheur a franc bonus for her input. Bonheur succeeded her father as director of the School of Drawing for Young Girls, a position in which she was able to encourage young women to pursue artistic careers.
She also began work on a painting depicting horses, which was destined to become her most famous work. To prepare sketches for the painting, Bonheur frequented the stables of the Paris Omnibus Company where she received ample opportunity to watch large draft horses at work and rest.
Finally, in , her work was finished and The Horse Fair was the sensation of the Salon. The painting sold for the very high sum of 40, francs in , and attracted the favorable attention of Queen Victoria of England, who invited Bonheur for a royal visit. The painting was eventually purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where it is currently housed.
Bonheur's continuing commercial success enabled her to purchase a large chateau in the French town of By, to which she and Micas moved in The chateau included spacious grounds enclosed by a wall. Bonheur was able to maintain what amounted to a personal zoological garden, including dogs, Icelandic ponies, deer, gazelles, monkeys, cattle, yak, boar, and a lion. These animals became the subjects of many of Bonheur's works and provided her with great joy.
Bonheur painted animals and pastoral scenes throughout the remainder of her career, and continued to enjoy commercial and critical favor. She became the first female recipient of the French Legion of Honor in However, the award could only be presented to her when Emperor Louis-Napoleon was out of town, because he opposed the bestowal of this award on a woman.
She later received a rosette denoting a second Legion of Honor and was very proud of this recognition, wearing her medals prominently when sitting for a portrait by Anna Klumpke in Bonheur continued to score artistic success until the time of her death. One of her more famous works depicted the American celebrity Buffalo Bill Cody, whose wild west show visited France in Bonheur delighted in painting the show's wildlife and cast, which included authentic Western cowboys, Mexican vaqueros, and Native Americans.
She remained active following the death of Nathalie Micas later in At the time of her own death in By, France on May 25, , Bonheur's studio contained more than studies and works, both finished and unfinished. Bonheur represented, in many ways, the epitome of the Realist school which dominated European painting in the mid-nineteenth century.
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