Bonheur

Bonheur, ROSALIE (more commonly called ROSA), a French animal painter, born at Bordeaux, 16th March 1822. Her first master was her own father, Raymond Bonheur, an artist of merit, who died in 1853. In 1841 she figured for the first time in the Salon, showing a couple of small works—'Two Rabbits' and 'Goats and Sheep'—that indicated the department in which she was to attain future eminence. These were followed by a succession of highly finished compositions; the year 1849 producing what some consider her masterpiece, 'Ploughing with Oxen,' now in the Luxembourg. In 1853 her famous 'Horse Fair' was the principal attraction of the Salon; it was acquired for over £10,000 from the Stewart collection by Mr C. Vanderbilt, who presented it to the Gallery of New York. One of the two smaller replicas—that from which the well-known engraving was made—is in the National Gallery, London. In 1865 she exhibited a large landscape, 'Hay-making in Auvergne.' Rosa Bonheur long directed a School of Design for young girls. In 1853 she became entitled to the cross of the Legion of Honour, but because of her sex the decoration was withheld till 1865. During the siege of Paris (1870–71), her studio and residence at Fontainebleau were spared and respected by special order of the then Crown Prince of Prussia. Her success in painting animals has been largely due to her conscientious study of living subjects; she has succeeded in rendering spirited action in animals; and many of her works are known in England through engravings. See Laruelle's Rosa Bonheur, sa Vie, ses Œuvres (1885). She died 26th May 1899.