A look at Rosa Bonheur: French Animal Painter and Feminist Pioneer
Rosa Bonheur, Anna Klumpke,1898; Metropolitan Museum of Art. Courtesy of National Museum of Women in the Arts.
One of the most famous and financially successful French female artists in the 19th century, Rosa Bonheur, was a significant contributor to the animal painting genre and to the role of women in society and art.
Early Life
The oldest of four children, Rosa Bonheur was born in 1822 in Bordeaux, France to a family of artists, her father Oscar-Raymond, a painter, and mother Sophie Marquis, a piano teacher. Described as a tomboy, Rosa’s early upbringing in the countryside contributed to her early love of animals as she would often spend her time exploring outside visiting with farm animals. After the family moved to Paris in 1829, Bonheur’s lifelong love for animals and budding art career became even more evident as she further developed her drawing and sketching. Although already an avid sketcher, she had difficulty reading and writing. In order to develop her literacy skills and following the idea of her mother, Rosa drew an animal associated with each letter of the alphabet, an experience she later credited as part of the foundation for her deep passion, love, and connection to animals that became central to her career.
Her mother was not the only model in her life for instilling her values and missions early on. Just as Rosa would go on to serve as a feminist icon, her father campaigned for sexual equality and education as a member of the Saint-Simonianism movement known for utopian socialism. He encouraged his daughter to be independent and pave her own path.
After her mother died when Rosa was only a pre-teen, her father sent her to a boarding school which quickly revealed to not be a fit for her personality and more rowdy behavior, resulting in her expulsion. Coupled with the fact that women were not yet permitted in formal art schools, her father took it upon himself to ensure his daughter's art training boarding school and teaching her personally.
Working in her father’s studio, she began training by creating drawings from plaster models and still lifes. After seeing the work she completed on cherries, her father urged her to focus on nature, including both flora and fauna. He also instilled in her the fact that all beings and animals have souls, furthering her appreciation of wildlife.
At 14, she studied and copied sculptures and paintings in the Louvre, her falling telling her to challenge the classic and famed works she learned from. At 19, she had a menagerie of animals in her apartment, including chickens, a goat, and other small birds. In addition to the technical skills she gained through her training, her personal menagerie of animals and frequent visits to horse fairs, animal markets, farms, and slaughterhouses deepened her understanding of animal emotions and anatomy. These experiences enabled her to depict animals with photographic accuracy and dynamic motion - skills that would later make her famous. Because of this precision, her works are often classified as Realism, the artistic movement that arose out of Romanticism and favored accurate and unembellished depictions of life.
Also at the age of 19, she exhibited at her first Salon in Paris during 1841 with Goats and Sheep and Rabbits Nibbling Carrots.
Two Rabbits, Rosa Bonheur, 1840, Musée des Beaux Arts, Bordeaux. Courtesy of Art Her Story.
Following her first exhibition, her fame and reputation continued to grow in the 1840s as she exhibited at the Salon regularly until 1855, winning third in 1845 and a gold medal in 1848. Her success in 1848 awarded her a commission from the government: Ploughing in Nivernais, securing her career and establishment within the art world. Seven years later at the start of her 30s, Rosa’s submission of The Horse Fair brought her international recognition including from Queen Victoria as it traveled the world and was distributed as a print.
Some of Bonheur’s Most Iconic Paintings
Ploughing in Nivernais (Labourage nivernais), Rosa Bonheur, 1849, Musée d'Orsay. Courtesy of Musée d'Orsay.
The painting cited to have first established her career, Ploughing in Nivernais, served as a tribute to provincial regions and the tradition of animal powered field plowing, a practice that could be praised at the time for its opposition to the growing city ways of the post-revolution. Following the Realist theme of portraying the working class, the painting positions the viewer alongside the twelve oxen and workers who move across the field. The serene tones of the sky, the rich detail of the blades of grass and particles of dirt, the subtle shift in the colors of the oxen, the precise texture of fur, and the strength of the oxen conveyed all render the painting with a photographic quality. The relationship between men and the animals also demonstrates her view of both species working well alongside one another, a theme she often painted when she incorporated figures.
The Horse Fair, Rosa Bonheur, 1852-55, The Met Museum. Courtesy of the Met Museum.
Her most celebrated, and largest, painting, The Horse Fair (8 ft x 16 ½ ft) depicts the horse market in Paris where Rosa would observe biweekly for a year. The painting not only captures the wild spirit of the animals but also showcases her keen attention to anatomical detail in the horses’ muscles and tone. Her skill in depicting dynamic movement is evident in the varying galloping poses of the horses, which stand in striking contrast to the controlled stances of the handlers. As with many of her works, this painting demonstrates the importance of her direct observations of nature, a practice that allowed her to achieve the immense accuracy of detail she is known for. She was the first animal painter and women artist to produce such a grand painting, illustrating her significance for both art and equality.
Sheep by the Sea, Rosa Bonheur, 1865, National Museum of Women in the Arts. Courtesy of National Museum of Women in the Arts.
After the exponential success from The Horse Fair, she became the first female artists recipient of the highest French order of merit, the Legion of Honor in 1865, marking a huge milestone for women artists (she would later become the first woman to become an Officer of the Legion of Honor).
With the money she earned from selling the painting, she bought the Château de By, building a grand workspace within it. Its rural location near Fontainebleau forest served as a perfect place for her to continue her studies of animals in their natural habitats. At times, her menagerie expanded to have monkeys, lions, and tigers.
The Lion at Home, Rosa Bonheur, 1881, Hull Museums & Gallery. Courtesy of Hull Museums & Gallery.
In her 30s, Rosa maintained her career while keeping a quieter life. At the Château, she lived with Nathalie Micas, a devoted family friend who Rosa got close with when Nathalie’s father commissioned Rosa’s father to paint a portrait of her. Together, the two women opened their own studio. Rosa continued to paint animal portraits and scenes, conveying the relationship between animals and humans as well as highlighting the value of animals to be seen as living beings.
Bonheur’s Unconventional Ways
Although she worked traditionally by creating sketches before painting and observing her subjects closely, almost everything else about her was unconventional. Along with living with Nathalie rather than a male companion, Rosa had short hair, knew how to shoot a gun, rode astride, smoked, and wore pants - all things that were abnormal for women at the time. In order to observe and work in areas dominated by men such as the horse market and slaughterhouses, she received permission from the police to wear trousers and a loose blouse, a style she would adorn for the rest of her life. Although she lived with Nathalie for over forty years, she never married, fueling speculation around her sexuality. Despite the immense scrutiny and criticism for her personal life, Rosa proved how women could live independently and financially self-supported as well as a successful career. After taking over when her father died in 1849, she continued paving the way for future women artists by taking over as the director of his drawing school for girls as well as teaching courses.
Rosa Bonheur's sketches and journals at the Château de Rosa Bonheur (formerly Château de By). Photo by Claudine Doury. Courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine and Château de Rosa Bonheur.
Rosa Bonheur’s workshop at Château de Rosa Bonheur. Courtesy of @chateauderosabonheur on Instagram.
Today, her paintings are featured in several permanent displays and prominent museums including The Met and Musée d'Orsay. Though many people have forgotten about her, her legacy continues in the areas named after her, including a creperie and restaurant in France. A former employee in communications and art history student as well as a Bonheur admirer, Katherine Brault, bought Rosa’s Château in 2017 and has devoted her time to repairing and transforming the site into a museum dedicated to the artist. She had first fallen in love with the chateau upon a school trip.
With over 50,000 works, the Château now invites artists, historians, and scholars to visit and view the archives, opening up new means for Rosa to reenter the conversation.
Sources:
“Exposition Au Musée: Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899).” Musée d’Orsay, Etablissement public des musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, www.musee-orsay.fr/en/whats-on/exhibitions/presentation/rosa-bonheur-1822-1899. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
Kuiper, Kathleen. “Rosa Bonheur.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Rosa-Bonheur. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
“Marie-Rosalie (Rosa) Bonheur (1822-1899).” Portrait Society of America, www.portraitsociety.org/single-post/2018/08/23/marie-rosalie-rosa-bonheur-1822-1899. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
Pomeroy, Jordana. “Artist Spotlight: Rosa Bonheur.” National Museum of Women in the Arts, 15 Dec. 2009, nmwa.org/blog/artist-spotlight/artist-spotlight-rosa-bonheur/.
“Rosa Bonheur.” The Art Story, The Art Story Foundation, www.theartstory.org/artist/bonheur-rosa/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
“Rosa Bonheur.” National Museum of Women in the Arts, nmwa.org/art/artists/rosa-bonheur/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
“Rosa Bonheur.” The National Gallery , www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/rosa-bonheur. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.
Sciolino, Elaine. “The Trailblazing French Artist Rosa Bonheur Is Finally Getting the Attention She Deserves.” Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institution, Nov. 2020, www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/redemption-rosa-bonheur-french-artist-180
