Rosa Bonheur

1822-1899

European Artist

Bonheur was born at Bordeaux, France. From age ten on, Bonheur spent hours sketching animals in parks on the outskirts of Paris; by age seventeen she was contributing to the family income by making copies of paintings in the Louvre. Since it was not possible for a woman to attend the official schools of art at this time (that right was not granted until 1897), her father, Raymond Bonheur-a landscape artist and teacher-served as her instructor. Although many women at this time were amateur artists, it was very unusual for a woman to pursue painting as a career. Also unusual was her family's support in that endeavor. Bonheur was the most famous woman artist of the first three quarters of the nineteenth century. Her most famous painting, The Horse Fair was shown in Paris in 1853 and received enthusiastically. The work also attained widespread popularity in England, and engravings were made and sold in a number of other countries as well.