Eventually he allowed her to join him in the studio, where he taught her everything he knew. When Buffalo Bill Cody came to France with his Wild West Show in 1899, Bonheur met him and painted his portrait. Rockefeller, Hall W. "Biography of Rosa Bonheur, French Artist." Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). During the last decade of her life, Bonheur continued … Klumpke’s ashes were interred with them when she died in 1945. Find an in-depth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices. Painting by Marie Rosalie Bonheur called Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899), 1849. Klumpke managed Bonheur’s estate upon her death and wrote her biography and established the Rosa Bonheur Memorial Art School to offer instruction to women. Published: (1997) Rosa Bonheur : all nature's children. The successes of the artist’s life were great. Bonheur was trained by her father, Raymond Bonheur, an art teacher and a follower of the social theorist Henri de Saint-Simon. Anna Klumpke, a young American artist who was Bonheur's lover and chosen portraitist, narrates Bonheur's life while preserving Bonheur's own spirited voice speaking out on such topics as gender … She also edited. She first exhibited at the Salon of 1841. Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography Anna Klumpke, Author, Gretchen Van Slyke, Translator University of Michigan Press $65 (352p) ISBN 978-0-472-10825-1. Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. Her paintings fell squarely within the Realist school of the mid-nineteenth century, and her depictions of animals and rural scenes are still widely appreciated for their accuracy and artistic skill. Rosa Bonheur died in 1899, at the age of 77. Seeing his daughter’s early talent, he insisted she would surpass the fame of Madame Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1755-1842), one of the most famous female artists of the era. See available paintings, works on paper, and sculpture for sale and learn about the artist. Bonheur was able to live comfortably on the income she received from her paintings, and in 1859 she purchased a château at By, close to the forest of Fontainebleau. Her time in Paris, however, did expose her to the front lines of French history, including much social unrest. During Bonheur’s youth, the family followed their politically active father to Paris from Bordeaux, a change of scenery that the young artist resented. She was also elected as an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Watercolorists in London. The family moved from rural Bordeaux to Paris in 1829 when Rosa was six year… Omissions? In the 1870s she began to study and sketch lions and to master the characteristics of their movement as she had horses and many other animals; as an aid to her observation and in appreciation of their spirit, she even raised some lions on her estate. Found in the collection of Musée de l'Histoire de France, Château de Versailles. She is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris alongside Nathalie Micas. Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography brings this extraordinary woman to life in a unique blend of biography and autobiography. Interestingly, all four of the children grew to be talented and successful artists. Despite the procession of admirers and celebrities who would show up at her door, as she aged Bonheur associated less and less with her fellow man, instead drawing into the company of her animals, who she often remarked possessed a greater capacity for love than some human beings. In addition to animals, Bonheur was intrigued by the legends of the American West. Kathryn Hughes, Guardian A new biography of the wildly unconventional 19th-century animal painter and gender equality pioneer Rosa Bonheur, from the author of the acclaimed Mistress of Paris and Renoir's Dancer. The Saint Simeons believed in gender equality — a radical idea at the time, and after Rosa failed an apprenticeship as a seamstress, Raimond began to train her in the arts. Rosa Bonheur se plaira à imaginer que le mystère de ses origines maternelles cache quelque secret d'État et qu'elle est de sang royal, jusqu'au jour où elle appren… Paris, 1908, p. 425, ill. p. 339 [English ed., "Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)biography," Ann Arbor, 1997, p. 282], lists it among works of unknown date that the artist did not exhibit. Rosa Bonheur (née Marie-Rosalie) was the oldest of four children, two girls and two boys, born to an idealistic artist father, Oscar-Raymond, and a patient piano teacher mother, Sophie. Hall W. Rockefeller is a writer and art historian, specializing in the work of woman artists from 1900 to the present. Toward the end of her career those qualities were accentuated … Protip: it’s at the library. Her paintings of animals, inspired by her devotion to them, garnered international acclaim. She officially won the prize, however, in 1894 and was the first woman to do so. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Bonheur's initialartistic training was typical for her era. This painting may have been inspired by the rustic houses in the vicinity of the Forest of Fontainebleau, where Bonheur lived for more than 40 years. Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born to Sophie Marquis and Raimond Bonheur in 1822, the first of four children. Portrait of Rosa Bonheur. Portrait of Rosa Bonheur by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. The artist was also known to smoke cigarettes and ride horses astride, as a man would, which caused a stir in polite society. Rosa Bonheur (March 16, 1822–May 25, 1899) was a French painter, best known today for her large scale painting the Horse Fair (1852-1855), which is part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.She was the first woman to receive France’s Cross of the Legion of Honor, in 1894. View Rosa Bonheur’s 1,186 artworks on artnet. Empress Eugènie, wife of Napoleon III, visited her studio to personally confer the Legion of Honor, making Bonheur the first woman to receive the award. Bonheur called it her own “Parthenon Frieze,” referring to its elaborate and energetic composition. Corrections? Her work rapidly gained popularity in the United States and Britain. Rosa Bonheur, original name Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, (born March 16, 1822, Bordeaux, France—died May 25, 1899, Château de By, near Fontainebleau), French painter and sculptor famed for the remarkable accuracy and detail of her pictures featuring animals. She was the eldest of a family of four artists, of whom her brother Isidore was best known. The Horse Fair was made into a print and hung in school rooms, where it influenced generations of artists. (The long overdue English translation, by Gretchen van Slyke, was rightly described as an ‘[auto]biography’ when it was published in 1997.) View of a room of the Chateau de By ("By Castle"), the former property of the late French artist Rosa Bonheur, taken on September 20, 2019 in Thomery, outside Paris. Rosa Bonheur: Sa vie, son oeuvre. Sophie Marquis succumbed to illness in 1833, when Bonheur was only 11 years old. In order to realistically depict her subjects, Bonheur would dissect animals to study anatomy. Then in 1833, Rosa’s mother Sophie Bonheur died. ThoughtCo, Aug. 29, 2020, thoughtco.com/biography-of-rosa-bonheur-4842522. Rosa Bonheur was a French artist working in the animalier style. In 1836, three years after her mother’s death, Bonheur met Nathalie Micas, who became a lifelong companion. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Micas, Bonheur’s companion, died in 1889. She is famous for the realism of her works. by: Bonheur, Rosa, 1822-1899. That same year Bonheur met a young American painter, Anna Klumpke, with whom she corresponded for many years. Sa mère Sophie Marquis (1797-1833), née de parents inconnus, est adoptée par un riche commerçant bordelais, Jean-Baptiste Dublan de Lahet . Though definite conclusions about the artist’s sexuality are impossible, Bonheur did have a lifelong companion in Nathalie Micas, whom she met at the age of 14, when Micas received art lessons from Bonheur’s father. Rosa Bonheur managed to upstage the work of her contemporary male artists during the 19 th century, a rarity in the art world. Rosa’s father, Raimond, was an amateur painter and member of the utopian Saint Simeons society. Rosa Bonheur: With a Checklist of Works in American Collections. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. She was not, despite her living in Paris, influenced by contemporary art, and would remain largely oblivious (or outright hostile) to it for her entire life. Bonheur’s star, however, was overshadowed towards the end of her life when her artistic conservatism was unbending in the face of new art movements in France like impressionism, which began to cast her work in a regressive light. Marie-Rosalie Bonheur naît au 29, rue Saint-Jean-Saint-Seurin (devenue depuis le 55 rue Duranteau) à Bordeaux . She was a wild child who forged her own path. Kathleen Kuiper was Senior Editor, Arts & Culture, Encyclopædia Britannica until 2016. She was an “animalière”, which means a painter of animals.Bonheur is widely considered as the most famous female painter during the 19 th century.. Rosa Bonheur was born in Bordeaux (1822) in a family of artists. Coupling her own memories with Bonheur's first-person account, Anna Klumpke, a young American artist who was Bonheur's lover and chosen portraitist, recounts how she came to meet and fall in love with Bonheur. She also frequented the Louvre, where she studied the work of the Barbizon School, as well as Dutch animal painters, among them Paulus Potter. This entry was posted in Art and Inspiration, Reading Recommendations and tagged art, book suggestions, gender, History, languages, painting on September 6, 2017 by Katherine. Rosa Bonheur, born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, was a French artist, mostly a painter of animals but also a sculptor, in a realist style. She often self-consciously changed her clothing to more appropriate women’s dress when she had company (including when the Empress Eugénie came to visit her in 1864). Bonheur was trained in drawing by her father alongside her brothers. She owned dogs, horses, a variety of birds, pigs, goats, and even lionesses, which she treated as if they were dogs. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-rosa-bonheur-4842522. Throughout her life, Bonheur wore men’s clothing, though she always insisted it was a matter of convenience rather than a political statement. Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born in Bordeaux, France, on March 22, 1822, the oldest of four children. Though she achieved success in her native France, her work was met with even more enthusiasm abroad. Updates? Rosa Bonheur. https://www.thoughtco.com/biography-of-rosa-bonheur-4842522 (accessed February 1, 2021). Bonheur’s feminism was typical of the time, influenced by both a post-French Revolution sense of enlightenment and freedom, while also inhibited by a sense of middle class propriety. Two decades later, in 1940, Klumpke published Memoirs of an Artist. (1822–99). Rosa Bonheur (née Marie-Rosalie) was the oldest of four children, two girls and two boys, born to an idealistic artist father, Oscar-Raymond, and a patient piano teacher mother, Sophie. While Bonheur was very famous during her life, her artistic star has since faded. ThoughtCo. Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rosa-Bonheur, Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Rosa Bonheur, Rosa Bonheur - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). In fact, her 1849 painting Ploughing in the Nivernais was inspired by Sand’s pastoral novel La Mare au Diable (1846). She left her estate to Anna Klumpke, her companion and biographer. Rosa Bonheur (right) and Natalie Micas, Nice, 1882 // Wikipedia Buffalo Bill. One of the most famous women artists of the 19th century was French painter Rosa Bonheur. From overcoming oppression, to breaking rules, to reimagining the world or waging a rebellion, these women of history have a story to tell. Anna Klumpke’s biography of Rosa Bonheur is, of course, not only an important art-historical document, but a major contribution to the social history of nineteenth-century France and a moving testimony to human attachment as well.” —Linda Nochlin“The remarkable life of Rosa Bonheur, one of the most highly … It included copying great works of art and making studies of landscapes and animals. Rockefeller, Hall W. (2020, August 29). Vintage etching circa late 19th century. Her father, Raymond Bonheur, was a drawing master, with whom she studied in Paris; she also studied with Leon Cogniet and sketched at the Paris Zoo and at slaughterhouses … Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. An Old Monarch by Rosa Bonheur (circa 19th century). Rosa Bonheur was … Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Inspired by the horse market at Paris’ Boulevard de l’Hôpital, Bonheur looked to the works of Théodore Géricault for guidance when planning its composition. The artist, Rosa Bonheur, has filled in the animals in the foreground and some of the sky and the sun-parched ground. Ploughing in Nevers also called the First Dressing. '[A] diligently researched, beautifully produced and insistently sympathetic biography.' By using ThoughtCo, you accept our. It was praised by the Empress Eugénie, as well as Eugène Delacroix. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The family struggled financially, and Bonheur’s early memories were of moving from one small apartment to another. (Many writers and artists of the time who espoused liberal thinking hypocritically criticized the emancipation of women.). Bonheur was born in Bordeaux, France, on 22 March, 1822. Whether due to diminished taste for 19th century realism, or her status as a woman (or some combination thereof), Bonheur maintains a place in history more as a pioneering woman to look up to rather than a painter in her own right. Published: (1998) Rosa's animals : the story of Rosa Bonheur … By the age of 23, Bonheur was already getting attention for her skilled rendering of animals, and it was not uncommon for her to win awards for her work. 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The Horse Fair (1853), considered by many to be her masterpiece, was acquired in 1887 by Cornelius Vanderbilt for a record sum and became one of her most widely reproduced works; Vanderbilt donated the piece to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Rosa Bonheur: Sa vie, son oeuvre is an odd hybrid of first-person testimony coupled with extended sections of ventriloquism, where Bonheur narrates her life in her own words. Her best-known paintings are Ploughing in the Nivernais, first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1848, and now at 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’s work sold so well that in 1860 she was able to purchase an estate with a château, at By, near Fontainebleau. Her sketching visits to those public places that were largely the domain of men, as well as her work in the studio, prompted her by at least the early 1850s to eschew traditional female clothing for the trousers and loose blouse of a male peasant. She continued to dress in masculine attire for the rest of her life, though she came to be mocked and disparaged for her garb. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography brings this extraordinary woman to life in a unique blend of biography and autobiography. Rosa Bonheur: the Artists (Auto) Biography by Anna Klumpke; Gretchen van Slyke, translator. Many thought of Bonheur as too commercial and characterized the artist’s incessant production as that of a factory, from which she churned out uninspired paintings on commission. Catherine Hewitt’s Art is a Tyrant is a lively biography of groundbreaking French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899). Bonheur was a great admirer of her contemporary, the French writer George Sand (a nom de plume for Amantine Dupin), whose outspoken advocacy for the equality of women’s artistic achievement resonated with the artist. In fact, as Bonheur aged and her particular style of pastoral realism aged along with her, she was increasingly seen as a regressive who was more interested in commissions than in true artistic inspiration. In 1842, Raymond Bonheur remarried, and the addition of his new wife freed Rosa from taking care of her younger siblings, thereby allowing her more time to paint. Following her second expulsion from school in 1835, her father decided to give Bonheur artistic training in his studio. Rosa Bonheur was born on the 16th of March, 1822. At the Salon of 1841 she exhibited two paintings, Goats and Sheep and Rabbits Nibbling Carrots (1840). Her success in Britain was considerable, however, as many saw her style to share affinities with British animal paintings, such as those painted by Bonheur’s great hero, Theodore Landseer. Like her father before her, Bonheur had an abiding interest in the United States, especially with the American West. She was the first woman to receive France’s Cross of the Legion of Honor, in 1894. Rosa Marie (Rosalie) Bonheur (1822 - 1899) was active/lived in United States, France. The painting also went on tour to the United Kingdom and the United States, thanks to the intervention of Bonheur’s new dealer and agent, Ernest Gambard. Rosa Bonheur : the artist's (auto)biography / by: Klumpke, Anna, 1856-1942. 951 askART artist summary of Rosa Marie (Rosalie) Bonheur. Birth Name: Marie-Rosalie Bonheur Occupation: Sculptor Place Of Birth: Bordeaux Date Of Birth: March16, 1822 Date Of Death: May 25, 1899 Cause Of Death: N/A Ethnicity: White Nationality: French. Klumpke painted a final portrait of Bonheur in 1902 and published Rosa Bonheur, sa vie et son oeuvre in 1908. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Interestingly, all four of the children grew to be talented and successful artists. Bonheur excelled in painting and sculpting, she carved a name for herself during a time when women largely went unnoticed for their contributions towards society in general. The eldest of four children, Rosa Bonheur received drawing lessons in the studio of her father, Raymond Bonheur (1796-1849). The painting was both a critical and commercial success, as people flooded the gallery to see it. It was there that she took refuge from the city and was able to cultivate an extensive menagerie from which she could paint. His politics rejected the sentimentalism of the Romantic movement, which can account for the realist subjects which his daughter painted, as well as the relative equality with which he treated her, his eldest daughter. Bonheur also made a number of sketching trips to such regions as Auvergne and the Pyrenees, as well as to London, Birmingham, and Scotland. Her parents’ marriage was a match between a cultured young lady used to the company of European aristocracy and a man of the people, who would become only a moderately successful artist (though Rosa Bonheur would certainly credit him with raising and cultivating her artistic talent and therefore her success). In 1852, Bonheur painted her most famous work, The Horse Fair, whose enormous scale was unusual for the artist. Philadelphia, 1982, pp. Bonheur became increasingly distant from her family due to this relationship, which lasted until Nathalie’s death in 1889. Rosa Bonheur was a French painter and sculptor. She was the first woman to be awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour (1865). When “Buffalo Bill” Cody took his Wild West show to Paris in 1889, Bonheur befriended him and sketched his encampment and its denizens, as well as painting his portrait on horseback. Biography of Rosa Bonheur, French Artist. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan … 29, 31–33, 37, 56, ill. p. 90, notes that in addition to the horse market, Bonheur studied the workhorses at the Paris Omnibus Company; remarks that this picture was the largest executed by any animal painter. Horse market held in Paris on the tree-lined Boulevard de l'Hopital. Rosa Bonheur (March 16, 1822–May 25, 1899) was a French painter, best known today for her large scale painting the Horse Fair (1852-1855), which is part of the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Raimond Bonheur (who later changed the spelling of his name to Raymond) was a San Simonian, a member of the French political group active during the first half of the 19th century. Bonheur was widely consi… Klumpke eventually traveled to France to paint Bonheur’s portrait, and the two artists remained together at By until Bonheur’s death. One of the most celebrated female artists of the 19th century, Bonheur established an international reputation by exhibiting at the Paris Salons. Rosa was … In addition to becoming an Officer of the Legion of Honor, Bonheur was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Royal Order of Isabella by the king of Spain, as well as the Catholic Cross and the Leopold Cross by the king of Belgium. Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography brings this extraordinary woman to life in a unique blend of biography and autobiography.Coupling her own memories with Bonheur's first-person account, Anna Klumpke, a young American artist who was Bonheur's lover and chosen portraitist, recounts how she came to meet and fall in love with Bonheur. Meet extraordinary women who dared to bring gender equality and other issues to the forefront. 1 review Hailed by her contemporaries as the most popular animal-painter, male or female, of the nineteenth century, the French artist Rosa Bonheur (1822-99) lived to see her name become a household … Toward the end of her career those qualities were accentuated by a lighter palette and the use of a highly polished surface finish. Her father's approach to art, which stressed realistic depic… Newly widowed in 1833, Bonheur’s father tried to apprentice his young daughter as a seamstress, hoping to secure her a financially viable profession, but her rebellious streak kept her from being successful. She enrolled at the Louvre (as women were not allowed in the Academy) at the age of 14, where she stood out for both her youth and her gender. Gambard was instrumental in Bonheur’s continued success, as he was responsible for promoting the artist’s reputation abroad. Awarded a first class medal for the Horse Fair, she was owed the cross of the Legion of Honor (as is customary), but was refused it as she was a woman. Rosa Bonheur, born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, (16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist, an animalière (painter of animals) and sculptor, known for her artistic realism.Her most well-known paintings are Ploughing in the Nivernais, first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1848, and now at Musée d’Orsay in Paris, and The Horse Fair … She spent many hours at the slaughterhouse, where her presence was questioned, as she was not only petite, but above all else, female. Rockefeller, Hall W. "Biography of Rosa Bonheur, French Artist." Horses on the periphery are silhouettes in brown. Biography Rosa Bonheur. 1,3 x 2,6 m. Orsay Museum, Paris. As Bonheur did not exhibit in French Salons after the 1860s, her work was considerably less respected in her native country. Rosa Bonheur is known for Animal and western painting. Bonheur… Artist Rosa Bonheur. Rosa Bonheur, original name Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, (born March 16, 1822, Bordeaux, France—died May 25, 1899, Château de By, near Fontainebleau), French painter and sculptor famed for the remarkable accuracy and detail of her pictures featuring animals. By the time Bonheur was in her teens, her talent for sketching live animals had manifested itself, and—rejecting training as a seamstress—she began studying animal motion and forms on farms, in stockyards, and at animal markets, horse fairs, and slaughterhouses, observing and sketching them and gaining an intimate knowledge of animal anatomy. The young girl proved an immediate success and applied herself vigorously to her studies. Like novelist George Sand, whom Bonheur admired, she obtained police authorization to dress as she did (1852). She won a medal at the Paris Salon in 1845, her first of many. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) was a commercially successful painter in an era when few women were able to pursue a career in the arts. With nothing left to keep Klumpke at Bonheur’s château, Bonheur came clean about her feelings, according to Rosa Bonheur: Sa Vie, Son Oeuvre, a biography that Klumpke later wrote. A Limier Briquet Hound by Rosa Bonheur 1856, oil on canvas, 36.8 × 45.7 cm (14.5 × 18 in). She exhibited regularly at the Salon from 1841 to 1855, winning exemption from jury approval in 1853. In the United States her paintings were collected by railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt (he bequeathed the Horse Fair to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1887), and in England Queen Victoria was known to be an admirer. From early on she pre-ferred to draw animals and went to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris to study and draw them. The Farm at the Entrance of the Wood, 1860-1880. Biography of Rosa Bonheur.