ROSA BONHEUR (French, 1822-1899) The Horse Fair, ca. 1852 Oil on canvas, 10 1/2 x 25" Elisabeth H. Gates Fund, 1927

Rosa Bonheur was the most famous woman artist of the first three quarters of the nineteenth century. 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. 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 radical in the way she lived her personal life, Bonheur was politically and artistically conservative. She worked in a very traditional way, making sketches and studies in preparation for larger, final paintings. This is an oil study for her most famous painting, The Horse Fair.The study is quite small; the final painting is 8 x 16 feet. Bonheur believed in direct observation of nature and was determined to be accurate in all details. To this end, she dissected animal parts, sketched from life, and attended horse fairs, which were opportunities for dealers of horses to show off their stock to potential buyers. This was not the type of event normally attended by women. To avoid the taunts and comments a woman could receive if she were seen at a horse fair, Bonheur applied for permission from the prefecture of police to dress in men’s clothing, and received authorization to do so in 1852.

In the painting, the horses run around energetically in a circle, showing off their value to potential customers. Bonheur’s love of animals is reflected in the way in which she successfully conveys their power and majesty, while their handlers have to concentrate fully on keeping them under control. The viewer’s attention is focused on the horses by the simple surroundings—a wall, trees, and small patches of sky—and also by the fact that no barriers exist between the viewer and the animals. The foreground is open, allowing easy access to the scene.

The final version of The Horse Fairwas 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. Rosa Bonheur was the first woman to receive a cross of the Legion of Honor in France, a reward for outstanding achievement in her field. The honor was bestowed upon her personally by the Empress Eugenie, wife of emperor Napoleon III, in June 1865. The empress wanted to show, as she said, that "genius has no sex."

— Mariann Smith

SUGGESTIONS FOR HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES AND DISCUSSIONS

• Have the students paint pictures or draw drawings based on real sketches of their environment. Go on a sketching walk. Go to a place in the community nearby to sketch, if possible—a grocery store, a business, a park.
• Have the children write a story about one of the characters (men or horses) in the painting, including why the character is at the horse fair, how he got there and what will happen after the fair.
• Have the children becomethe figures in the painting. They could make costumes and practice posing in the poses of the picture and create a tableau of the painting.
• It was very unusual for a woman to be a professional painter when Rosa Bonheur was alive. Things have changed today. But how much? Ask the students to make a list of what they think are women’s jobs and men’s jobs, then talk about stereotypes, gender, etc. in the contemporary world.