Rosa Bonheur, Animal Painter
by Faye Kagele
At times, Rosa Bonheur's home seemed like a small zoo. Rosa
loved animals. As a child, she made a garden on the top of the
building where she lived. This garden was for her pet sheep. As
an adult, Rosa owned several kinds of animals. She loved to draw
and paint pictures of her animals. Having pets helped her become
the most famous animal painter of her time.
Rosa Bonheur was born in a city in southern France in the
early 1800s. When she was a young girl, she moved to Paris,
France. Her father, Raymond, was an artist. He noticed how
happy Rosa was when she was drawing or painting. He decided to
give her art lessons.
Rosa practiced drawing and painting every day. When Rosa
was 14, her father would send her to the Louvre Museum in Paris
to study and copy paintings. Many artists at that time practiced
their skills by copying the famous paintings in the museum.
Rosa's copies were so good people bought them. The money she
earned helped support her family.
Animals were Rosa's favorite subject to paint. She carried her
art supplies on long walks out into the country to find animals.
She painted pictures of sheep, goats, cows, and ducks. The
animals looked peaceful and relaxed in beautiful green fields.
In the 1800s, paintings were an important way to show
animals and nature. The camera was a new invention. Only a few
people owned one. Cameras took only black and white pictures.
Rosa wanted her animals to look as real as a photograph. She
studied the bones and muscles of animals to make her paintings
look real. She drew animals in different positions. The drawings
showed how the animals looked when they slept, ate, and
jumped. Rosa's paintings improved from her hard work.
When Rosa was 19, she presented some of her paintings in an
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art show. One painting was called Rabbits. For this painting, Rosa
used different shades of brown, gray, and white. She painted
hundreds of fine lines to show the soft texture of the rabbits' fur.
After the exhibit, her animal paintings became popular. People
liked the lifelike quality of her work.
One of Rosa's favorite animals was the horse. To learn more
about horses, Rosa visited horse markets. Many different kinds of
horses were bought and sold at the markets. Because it was not
considered proper for women to be at the horse market, Rosa
wore a disguise. Instead of a dress, she put on men's clothing.
She cut her hair short so she would look more like a man.
Disguised, she could draw horses in her sketchbook without being
noticed.
Rosa used the horse sketches to create her most famous
painting, called Horse Fair. The painting took more than a year to
complete. Horse Fair is eight feet by 16 feet, about the size of a
long wall. No other animal painter at the time had painted such
an enormous painting. Rosa had to use a ladder to reach the top.
Horse Fair showed the energy of the powerful horses as they ran
and jumped. White and brown horses with wild eyes tossed their
manes and kicked up dust.
People loved Horse Fair. The painting was so popular that
Queen Victoria of England wanted to see it. The painting was
therefore shipped to London. Rosa also received a medal from
France. Rosa was now a famous artist. Her paintings sold for high
prices.
Rosa continued to paint pictures of animals wherever she
went. In 1889, she attended Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in
Paris. The show was like a circus. Rosa saw animals she had
never seen in France, such as buffalo and elk. Rosa loved the
show. She painted many pictures of the animals. She also painted
a famous portrait of Buffalo Bill on his horse.
After the show, Rosa wanted to own her own unusual animals.
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New animals would mean new subjects for her paintings. She
bought a home in the country. On her land she kept deer,
monkeys, a bear, and even a lion. Rosa continued painting
animals until her death at age 78.
Now Rosa Bonheur's paintings hang in many museums in
France and the United States. People can still see the Horse Fair
painting today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
City. Her artwork is admired by many people who share her love
of animals.
END OF TEXT
"Rosa Bonheur, Animal Painter" by Faye Kagele, copyright 2012 by The University of
Kansas.
Bibliography:
Bolton, Sarah K. Lives of Girls Who Became Famous. gutenberg.org. Web. 15 Dec. 2012.
"Rosa Bonheur." ArtHistoryArchive.com. The Art History Archive. Web. 14 Dec. 2012.
Rydell, Robert W. and Rob Kroes. Buffalo Bill in Bologna: The Americanization of the World,
1869-1922. UChigago.edu. The University of Chicago Press, 2005. Web. 14 Dec. 2012.
Stanton, Theodore, ed. Reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur. New York: D. Appleton and
Company, 1910. Google Books. Web. 15 Dec. 2012.
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