Rosa Bonheur

1822-1899

Rosa Bonheur drew animals from childhood in her father's studio, then studied them relentlessly at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and in slaughterhouses to master their anatomy. Her breakthrough came with Plowing in the Nivernais (1849), which elevated rural labor to the grandeur of history painting. The Horse Fair (1853) secured her international fame, and by the 1855 Salon she was among the most celebrated painters of her time. She was the first woman awarded the Legion of Honour, receiving it from Empress Eugénie in 1865. After settling at the Château de By in Thomery with her lifelong companion Nathalie Micas, she worked largely on commissions, building an enormous following especially in England and America. Though progressive critics dismissed her naturalist style, Bonheur stood as one of the foremost animal painters of the nineteenth century—and as an independent, successful woman working entirely on her own terms in a male-dominated world.