Labourage nivernais
Rosa Bonheur
(1822 -
1899)
This scene, dated 1849, shows the first ploughing or dressing, which was done in early autumn to break the surface of the soil and aerate it during the winter. The pretty rolling countryside with wooded hills in the distance provides the background for two teams of oxen pulling heavy ploughs. The freshly turned soil scores the foreground.
Attention is focused on the first team of Charolais-Nivernais cattle, whose light russet and white coats gleam in the cold, pale light. It is primarily an animal painting, and the heroes are the oxen themselves, leaving little room for the men: the cowherd is a diminutive figure. It is a hymn to agricultural labour, whose grandeur was magnified because, in these post-revolutionary days, it was easy to contrast with the corruption of the city. It is also tribute to provincial regions – here the Nivernais, with its agricultural traditions and rural landscapes.
For all these reasons, this realist work drew almost unanimous critical acclaim. The State, which had commissioned it from Rosa Bonheur in 1848 for the Musée de Lyon, decided to keep it in Paris, at the Musée du Luxembourg. When the artist died, rich and famous in France, England, but particularly in the United States, it was put in the Louvre and was later allocated to the Musée d'Orsay.
Attention is focused on the first team of Charolais-Nivernais cattle, whose light russet and white coats gleam in the cold, pale light. It is primarily an animal painting, and the heroes are the oxen themselves, leaving little room for the men: the cowherd is a diminutive figure. It is a hymn to agricultural labour, whose grandeur was magnified because, in these post-revolutionary days, it was easy to contrast with the corruption of the city. It is also tribute to provincial regions – here the Nivernais, with its agricultural traditions and rural landscapes.
For all these reasons, this realist work drew almost unanimous critical acclaim. The State, which had commissioned it from Rosa Bonheur in 1848 for the Musée de Lyon, decided to keep it in Paris, at the Musée du Luxembourg. When the artist died, rich and famous in France, England, but particularly in the United States, it was put in the Louvre and was later allocated to the Musée d'Orsay.
Rez-de-chaussée,
Salle 5
Artwork location
Artist(s)
Title(s)
titre principal : Labourage nivernais
autre titre : Le sombrage
titre principal : Labourage nivernais
autre titre : Le sombrage
Date
1849
Others accession number
Accession number
RF 64
LUX 22
Description
huile sur toile
Dimensions
H. 133,0 ; L. 260,0 cm.
Others accession number
Accession number
RF 64
LUX 22
Designation
tableau
Inscription(s)
S.D.g.d. : Rosa Bonheur 1849
Place of conservation
musée d'Orsay
- 1849, acquis après commande (commandé par l'Etat en 1848, prévu pour le musée de Lyon)
- de 1849 à 1920, musée du Luxembourg, Paris
- 1874, attribué au Musées nationaux, Paris
- de 1920 à 1923, musée du Louvre, Paris (entrée le 21 février 1920)
- de 1923 à 1986, déposé au musée national du château de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau
- 1986, affecté au musée d'Orsay, Paris
Modality of acquisition
achat après commande
Acquistion Date
1849
- Salon - palais des Tuileries - France, Paris, 1849, n°204
- Exposition Universelle : London International Exhibition on Industry and Art - organisme inconnu - Royaume-Uni, Londres, 1862, n°129
- Internationalen Kunstausstellung - Glaspalast - Allemagne, Munich, 1879, n°7
- Exposition Universelle - Champ-de-Mars - France, Paris, 1889, n°69
- Pintura Francesa Contemporanea 1870-1914 - organisme inconnu - Espagne, Madrid, 1918, n°26
- [sans titre] - organisme inconnu - France, Toulouse, 1920
- Le musée du Luxembourg en 1874 - peintures - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 1974
- Paysages et paysans, la vie rurale en France au XIXe siècle 1820-1905 - organisme inconnu - Chine, Pékin, 1978, n°3
- Paysages et paysans, la vie rurale en France au XIXe siècle 1820-1905 - organisme inconnu - Chine, Shanghai, 1978, n°3
- Hier pour demain : Arts et traditions et Patrimoine - Galeries nationales du Grand Palais - France, Paris, 1980, n°222
- Images du travail - peintures et dessins des collections françaises - musée national Fernand Léger - 1985
- Paysages, paysans : l'art et la terre en Europe du Moyen Age au XXe siècle - Bibliothèque nationale de France - France, Paris, 1994
- Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) - musée municipal de l'Ecole de Barbizon – Auberge Ganne - France, Barbizon, 1997
- 1848 : la République et l'Art vivant - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 1998, p.73
- Paysages de Bourgogne, de Corot à Laronze - musée des Beaux-Arts - France, Dijon, 2001-2002
- Millet and his Time : Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay - National Museum of History - Taïwan, Province de Chine, Taïpei, 2008
- Millet, Courbet et le naturalisme français : chefs-d'oeuvre du musée d'Orsay - China Art Museum - Chine, Shanghai, 2012-2013
General bibliography
-
Roger-Milès, Léon, Rosa Bonheur, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, Société d'édition artistique, 1900, p.49-50
-
Klumpke, Anna, Rosa Bonheur, sa vie, son oeuvre, Paris, Flammarion, 1908
-
Lobstein, Dominique, Les Salons au XIXe siècle. Paris, capitale des arts, Paris, La Martinière, 2006, p. 138
-
Borin, Marie, Rosa Bonheur, une artiste à l'aube du féminisme, Paris, Pygmalion, 2011
Exposition catalog
-
Lacambre, Geneviève, Le Musée du Luxembourg en 1874, cat.exp. (Paris, Grand Palais, 31 mai-18 novembre 1974), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1974, n° 26
-
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel, Paysages, paysans. L'art et la terre en Europe du Moyen Age au XXe siècle, cat. exp. (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, 25 mars-26 juin 1994), Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France ; Réunion des musées nationaux, 1994, n° 163
-
Barthélémy, Sophie ; Tran, Catherine, Paysages de Bourgogne : De Corot à Laronze, cat. exp. (Dijon, musée des Beaux-Arts, du 07 décembre 2001 au 11 mars 2002), Dijon, musée des beaux-arts, 2001, n° 30
-
Georgel, Chantal, Millet and His Time : Masterpieces from the Musée d'Orsay, cat.exp. (Taipei City, National Museum of History, 31 mai - 5 septembre 2008), Taipei, National museum of history, 2008, n° 55, p. 165 ; p. 220
-
Héran, Emmanuelle [sous la direction de], Le Zoo d'Orsay, cat.exp. (Roubaix, la Piscine-musée d'art et d'industrie André Diligent, 1er mars-25 mai 2008), Paris, Gallimard, 2008, p. 29-30
Summary catalog
-
Compin, Isabelle [coordination] ; Lacambre, Geneviève [coordination] ; Roquebert, Anne, Musée d'Orsay. Catalogue sommaire illustré des peintures, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1990, vol.1, p.59
Material and technique
Represented locations
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