Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)

From Marie-Rosalie to Rosa Bonheur

 

Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born in Bordeaux on 16 March 1822. The eldest of four children (Auguste, Isidore and Juliette) who all became artists, she was the daughter of the painter Raymond Bonheur and Sophie Marquis, a cultured woman and musician. The Bonheur family moved to Paris in 1829. Marie-Rosalie, who had loved animals since childhood and sketched them tirelessly, left school at the age of 13 and entered her father’s studio. She embarked on the life of a studious bohemian, alternating between drawing and modelling lessons in the family apartment on the rue des Tournelles and outdoor sessions in the woods. Raymond Bonheur was ambitious for his daughter and encouraged her to “blaze her own trail” and to challenge the past masters whose work she copied at the Louvre. Two Rabbits, her first submission to the Salon in 1841, attracted attention and Marie-Rosalie gradually began to distance herself from her father and his influence. The artist adopted the signature “Rosa Bonheur” two years later in memory of the pet name used by her mother, whose premature death in 1833 had traumatised her.

Working the Land

 

Rosa Bonheur had a particular interest in relationships between animals and people. She depicted them interacting with each other, highlighting on the one hand the power which men exert over animals and, on the other, the harmonious bond which seems to exist between them. Her scenes of rural life depict the everyday existence of shepherds and herdsmen, the activities of charcoal burners in the forests, and fieldwork. In the 1840s, the artist carried out formal research in this area. She travelled extensively around the countryside in the Auvergne, Pyrenees, and Nivernais and made a detailed study of each new breed she encountered. At the Salon of 1845, Rosa Bonheur was awarded a third-class medal for the painting Ploughing. In 1848, she was the rising star of the Salon with Bulls and Oxen, Cantal Breed (whereabouts unknown). The French State commissioned her to paint what would be her first masterpiece: Ploughing in the Nivernais, a tribute to working animals, which has become an iconic symbol of contented rural life.

The Horse Fair

 

Rosa Bonheur, who had already made her reputation with Ploughing in the Nivernais, received huge popular acclaim at the Salon of 1853 for The Horse Fair. She was keen to establish her credentials as an outstanding creative artist by working in a genre traditionally reserved for men and by conferring the noble format of history painting on the theme of animals. Choosing a contemporary subject, she painted the power of Percheron draft horses and the violence of men in a realistic manner, while conjuring up the legacy of the Parthenon friezes and vying with masters of the Romantic era such as Théodore Géricault. She produced a multitude of preparatory sketches before embarking on this huge painting. Studies of details and composition are grouped together here with a full-size sketch on canvas (over two metres high by five metres long). Although the 1853 painting (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) is too fragile to travel for the exhibition, the replica painted by Rosa Bonheur herself with Nathalie Micas is on display, on loan from the National Gallery in London.

Trips to Scotsland and the Pyrenees

 

"It's wild and beautiful, abundantly beautiful."

Rosa Bonheur developed a desire to travel very early in her career. Only by seeing animals and men in situ in the countryside and mountains was it possible to observe and discover their lives and to express the essence of different terroirs, and the unique characteristics of specific animals and agricultural practices. The artist travelled mainly in France, in the Auvergne, Nivernais, and Landes. Later, she would often spend the winter season in Nice. The Pyrenees were also a major destination and there Rosa Bonheur could experience the majestic beauty of the mountains and study the donkeys herded by muleteers as she pleased, or the sheep which she loved so much and also observed on the plain of Chailly. During the touring exhibition of The Horse Fair in the United Kingdom organised by Ernest Gambart in 1856, she travelled to Scotland, following in the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott, one of her favourite authors. She enjoyed discovering Scottish breeds, and returned with studies which she would use throughout her life.

The Animal Studio

 

In the 1850s, Rosa Bonheur’s fame was accompanied by major commercial success. Sales of her paintings and the distribution of prints funded the purchase of the Château de By in Thomery, on the edge of Fontainebleau forest. This isolated retreat in a rural setting allowed Rosa Bonheur to escape the countless visitors who sought her out in Paris. She tasked the architect Jules Saulnier with constructing a large studio adjoining the main building. Rosa Bonheur moved in on 12 June 1860, accompanied by Nathalie Micas and her mother, who managed the estate and cared for the animals together, thus relieving the artist of practical concerns. Nathalie also played an important role in preparing canvases by transferring tracings and laying down backgrounds. As an engineer, she perfected a patented railway brake system in the grounds. At this property designed as an “Estate of Perfect Friendship” and “a true Noah’s ark”, Rosa Bonheur studied animals daily. Dogs and horses, but also sheep, wild animals, deer and boar were among her many models, friends, and muses.

Placing Studies at the Heart of Creation

 

At By, Rosa Bonheur could study her models whenever she wanted and take long walks in the surrounding fields and forest in order to observe animals in their natural habitat. She also paid very close attention to capturing the appearance of trees, foliage, and the earth itself. Not a day went by without a meticulous sketch of a deer’s stance, or a dog’s expression. She drew tirelessly, accumulating studies of details which she would juxtapose on large sheets of paper. Rosa Bonheur cherished her studies, in pencil, oils and watercolour alike. They formed the “vocabulary” on which she drew throughout her life to create new compositions. The artist dubbed her studio “the sanctuary”. The focal point of the By property, it took on an almost sacred dimension. It was a place of absolute freedom, the artist’s ultimate domain where, under the gaze of stuffed animals, large-scale canvases were patiently developed, alongside her work from life, which aspired to capture the vital spark of each animal.

Majestic Beasts

 

Seen through Rosa Bonheur’s eyes, animals acquired a new status and became the subjects of true full-height and life-size portraits. The artist dedicated large-scale paintings to them, adopting atypical approaches to framing. Unusual panoramic formats revealed the secret life of deer in Fontainebleau forest, which she visited every day in order to observe wild animals and the beauty of the trees. Rosa Bonheur’s attention was first and foremost directed towards the gaze, which forged the connection between humans and animals. The artist believed animals had a soul, to which their eyes were the window, yet she respected their inherent strangeness and otherness. Through her art, she attempted to convey the truth of that fleeting moment when two worlds meet.

The Dream of the American West

 

Rosa Bonheur had been very famous in the United States since the 1860s, and her glittering profile there highlighted her talent and freedom as a woman artist. This was also Anna Klumpke’s home country, a “Young America”, which emancipated women through a more progressive education than was customary on the “Old Continent”. Despite her deep desire to visit the United States, Rosa Bonheur never fulfilled this dream. She was fascinated by the wide open spaces of the West, by its First nation people, and by the fauna peculiar to its landscapes: wild horses and, above all, bison. When William Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, brought his Wild West Show to Neuilly in 1889, Rosa Bonheur seized the opportunity to meet Lakota Sioux performers and their families. She was concerned about the disappearance of this “ill-fated race” at the hands of “the white usurpers”, and with them the bison, which were being decimated by man on the great plains of the West.

The Call of the Wild

 

Rosa Bonheur’s work is traditionally classed as realist, running counter to the aspirations of Romantic artists. However, hazy atmospheres conducive to dreaming form the backdrop to several compositions in which Rosa Bonheur, a skilled draughtswoman, plays on the contrast between the deep black of charcoal and blank areas of paper. Packs of wild wolves – enigmatic and fascinating creatures – are the central focus of one of her rare original lithographs. Rosa Bonheur’s love of horses was fuelled by Théodore Géricault’s vision of these animals, and she owned a number of his prints. In 1896, Rosa Bonheur drew inspiration from an engraving by the British artist George Stubbs and depicted The Duel, in which two famous stallions, Godolphin Arabian and Hobgoblin, clash. Finally, the unfinished painting Wild Horses, adopts a quasi-cinematic scope in order to convey the movement of a herd of mustangs. This painting could be interpreted as a pictorial manifesto in which the freedom of the horses in infinite space is the true subject, rather than the meticulous rendering of the animals.