Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)

Her view of the world around her demonstrates an exceptional vision of flora and fauna, both domestic and wild. Fascinated by animals, Rosa Bonheur gathered around her, in her property in By, a formidable menagerie of dozens of different species, including dogs, deer and wild animals.  

 

Placing animals at the heart of her artistic creations by integrating them into spectacular compositions or isolating them in genuine portraits, Rosa Bonheur was able to create an expressive style, devoid of sentimentality and of great realism, informed by scientific discoveries and by the new attention paid to the animal species of the land, calling into question the hierarchy between species.  

 

The exhibition plays on differences in scale, the artist having painted both very small formats and monumental works, most often panoramic and dynamic, as well as true full-height portraits of animals. In La Foulaison du blé en Camargue, Rosa Bonheur depicts the beauty and power of half-wild horses. The artist sees them belonging to the rural world and to peasant life, while at the same time exalting their telluric strength. She celebrates agriculture and the majesty of mother earth.

Celebrated during her lifetime on both sides of the Atlantic, the exhibition aims to reveal little-explored or even unknown aspects of this fascinating personality, who was able to assert herself both as a free woman and as an officially recognised artist in a very constrained century. The first woman artist to receive the Légion d'honneur, Rosa Bonheur was able to develop a genuine commercial strategy very early on and to associate herself with the most eminent dealers and collectors in order to dominate the art market and to win her financial and creative independence. A true "star" of her time, her career that was crowned with the greatest awards. A virtuoso and demanding artist, she organised her life around her work and the relentless quest for perfection, supported by women, especially her lifelong friend Nathalie Micas, who lived by her side for over fifty years, and her last companion, the American painter Anna Klumpke, to whom she entrusted her legacy.  

 

Rosa Bonheur was rapidly seen as a role model in the quest for independence for women, and for artists in particular. Articles and reviews, some French, but largely British and American, bear witness to this inspirational force for future generations. The image of the artist was so widespread that, in addition to numerous painted, photographed or engraved portraits, Rosa Bonheur's work, like her portrait, became the subject of what today would be called merchandise.  

 

One of the original features of the exhibition is the presentation of a large selection of studies and sketches, both painted and drawn, which allow us to appreciate the role of drawing in the artist's creative process, and to see pages of rare beauty. Superb, completely unpublished drawings, recently discovered at the Château Rosa Bonheur, are exhibited for the first time. More unusual aspects of her work, often intended for a more intimate sphere (paintings on pebbles, chestnut sculptures, etc.) are also presented. Finally, the exhibition emphasises Rosa Bonheur's personality, her humour, her taste for caricatures and the fruitful relationships she had with personalities from the musical, literary and scientific worlds of the time.