Rosa Bonheur was a French artist known best as a painter of animals (animalière). She also made sculptures in a realist style. Her paintings include Ploughing in the Nivernais, first exhibited at the Salon of 1849, and now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and The Horse Fair, which was exhibited at the Salon of 1853 and is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Bonheur was widely considered to be the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century.
Paintings by Rosa Bonheur
Haymaking in the Auvergne (1855)
Haymaking in the Auvergne (French: Fenaison d'Auvergne or La fenaison en Auvergne) is an 1855 oil painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur. It measures 215 cm × 422 cm (85 in × 166 in).
After her first great artistic success, Ploughing in the Nivernais exhibited at the Salon of 1849, Bonheur showed studies of two new paintings to French Minister of Fine Arts Charles de Morny, Duke of Morny. He rejected one, The Horse Fair, and commissioned Haymaking in the Auvergne instead. Bonheur focussed on completing The Horse Fair first, and De Morny attempted to change his mind after its good reception at the Paris Salon of 1853.
Pyrenean Shepherd Offering Salt to his Sheep (1864)
Pyrenean Shepherd Offering Salt to his Sheep is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur, executed in 1864. It his held at the Musée Condé, in Chantilly. The painting was commissioned by Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale.
Rosa Bonheur enjoyed great success at the Salon of 1853 with her painting The Horse Fair, then at the Universal Exhibition of 1855 with La Fenaison en Auvergne. Henri d'Orléans, then in exile in England, continued to follow artistic trends in France and commissioned a painting from the artist for his wife Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. For this, he went through the Countess of Ségur. The Duke receives the finished work on June 5, 1864, in larger than expected dimensions. The painting appealed to the Duke and Duchess so much that he decided to pay double the agreed price, the sum of 10,000 francs instead of 5,000.
Ploughing in the Nivernais (1849)
Ploughing in the Nivernais (French: Labourage nivernais), also known as Oxen ploughing in Nevers or Plowing in Nivernais, is an 1849 painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur. It depicts two teams of oxen ploughing the land, and expresses deep commitment to the land; it may have been inspired by the opening scene of George Sand's 1846 novel La Mare au Diable. Commissioned by the government and winner of a First Medal at the Salon of 1849, today it is held in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
The Nivernais, the area around Nevers, was known for its Charolais cattle, which were to play an important role in the agricultural revolution that took place in the area in the nineteenth century. Rosa Bonheur gained a reputation painting animals, and Ploughing in the Nivernais features twelve Charolais oxen, in two groups of six. On a sunny autumn day they plough the land; this is the sombrage, the first stage of soil preparation in the fall, which opens up the soil to aeration during the winter. Humans play a minor role in the painting—the farmer is almost completely hidden behind his animals. The freshly-ploughed land is prominent in the foreground, and the landscape behind is basking in sunlight. The painting's clarity and light resembles that of the Dutch paintings (esp. by Paulus Potter) which Bonheur had studied as part of her education.
The Horse Fair (1853)
The Horse Fair is an oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Rosa Bonheur, begun in 1852 and first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1853. Bonheur added some finishing touches in 1855. The large work measures 96.25 in × 199.5 in (244.5 cm × 506.7 cm).
The painting depicts dealers selling horses at the horse market held on the Boulevard de l'Hôpital in Paris. The hospital of Salpêtrière can be seen in the left background.
King of the Forest (1878)
King of the Forest (French: Le Roi de la forêt) is an oil-on-canvas painting executed in 1878 by French artist Rosa Bonheur. The work measures 244.8 cm × 175 cm (96.4 in × 68.9 in). In the catalogue for an auction sale at Christie's in 2017, it was described as "Perhaps among the most important paintings by the renowned animalier Rosa Bonheur remaining in private hands" and "considered by the artist herself to be one of her masterpieces".
The naturalistic painting depicts a stag standing in a misty forest, looking directly at the viewer. It may be based on the artist's observations of wildlife near the Château de By, on the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau, as well as an animal that she kept in her own menagerie. It may also take inspiration from Edwin Landseer's 1851 painting The Monarch of the Glen
Weaning the Calves (1879)
Weaning the Calves is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Rosa Bonheur, painted in 1879. It is held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York.
The painting was probably inspired by the artist's trip to the Pyrenees, where she did several studies in 1850, or to the United Kingdom. It depicts a pasture where a cow looks upon five calves, who are separated from her by an artificial barrier made of wood, stone and debris. The painting is a metaphor for the process of emancipation of the calves through their weaning, which despite being initially difficult becomes strengthening. The scene of the foreground opens to other pasturelands, where a small structure is depicted to the left, and five adult cows are seen to the right. The mountains which serve as the background for the painting are majestic and in accordance with the romantic mentality.
The Duel (1896)
Le Duel, peinture de Rosa Bonheur
Horse (1883)
Cheval de Rosa Bonheur, 1883, musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, France.
Wild Cat (1850)
Rosa Bonheur was one of the most famous painters of animals of her time. This wild cat is an excellent example of her realistic way of portraying animals. Bonheur was genuinely interested in the animals she depicted. In addition to a large number of dogs, birds and cats, she also had an otter, Mouflon sheep and lions. In 1853, at the age of 31, she gained wide recognition for her monumental painting The Horse Market. Bonheur’s choice of subjects required her to frequent places where it was impractical to wear long skirts. In 1857, the police granted her permission to wear trousers in public.
Ploughing Scene (1854)
Rosa Bonheur was among the most celebrated painters of animals in the 19th century. She frequently depicted plowing scenes that highlighted her command of anatomy, which she studied through dissection and at horse fairs and cattle markets. Bonheur attracted many patrons from abroad, especially from Great Britain and America. In 1860, she purchased the château of By in the village of Thomery, not far from Barbizon, where she lived with a menagerie of exotic animals.
Barbaro after the Hunt (1858)
Tableau de Rosa Bonheur conservé au Philadelphia Museum of Art
Forest with a Buck (1875)
Tableau de Rosa Bonheur conservé au Philadelphia Museum of Art