European

Rosa Bonheur

France 1822-1899
Study of a Cow 25.0028

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Bonheur's fame rested on a painstaking study of the wild and domestic animals that formed her subject matter-she kept a menagerie at her home in Paris-and her major Salon canvases required numerous, anatomically detailed preparatory paintings and drawings of individual animals or groups. In 1897, she reported a total of over 3,500 sketches and studies in her portfolios. This study is characteristic of those preparatory works and seems to be either a preliminary sketch for an as-yet-unidentified painting, or an independent study. Similar works were included in the studio sale of her works after her death in 1899. Taught to paint by her father, Rosa Bonheur (pronunciation) was drawn to naturalistic representations of local animal husbandry and agriculture. Labeled a "naturalist" by the critics, Bonheur avoided the confrontational attitude of her contemporary Courbet, and entered works at the Salon during the 1840s that became increasingly popular with patrons wanting representations of simple pastoral scenes instead of works that addressed the complexities and contradictions inherent in the social system. Awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1865, Bonheur became the most celebrated female artist of the 19th century. Encouraged by her father, she sought equality with her male counterparts (she was regularly issued permits to wear men's clothing in public), and attained a level of success that enabled her to sell and exhibit her works privately, independent of critical or Salon sanction.

 

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