Description

Precocious, gifted, and successful from a very young age, Rosa Bonheur exhibited at the 19th C. Paris Salon for the first time at the age of 19 and received several medals for her work. Bonheur was trained by her father, a landscape painter, but it was her love for animals, especially horses, that provided inspiration for her art. ‘The Horse Fair’ (1853, now at the Met in NYC) depicted the Parisian horse market, and received triumphant acclaim at the Paris Salon. Rosa Bonheur lived unconventionally: she wore her hair short, smoked, and kept a small menagerie of animals in her chateau. She became the first female artist to be awarded the Legion of Honor and then later, the first female to become an Officer of the Legion of Honor. Bonheur served, and continues to serve, as a role model for generations of women artists. Please join us as we explore the unconventional life of the richest, most famous female artist of 19th-century France, whose talent was more than equal to her accolades.