Rosa Bonheur: Defying Convention

 Rosa Bonheur - Lion at Rest - 1877-80 - Oil on canvas, 33 x 38 cm - Private collection (click photo for larger image)French painter and sculptor Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) is best known for her paintings of animals. She received her training from her father, Raymond Bonheur (1796-1849), an artist and ardent Saint-Simonian who encouraged her artistic career and independence. Precocious and talented, she began making copies in the Louvre at the age of 14 and first exhibited at the Salon in 1841. Her sympathetic portrayal of animals was influenced by prevailing trends in natural history and her deep affinity for animals, especially horses. Bonheur's art, as part of the Realist current that emerged in the 1840s, was grounded in direct observation of nature and meticulous draughtsmanship. She kept a small menagerie, frequented slaughterhouses and dissected animals to gain anatomical knowledge. In 1865 Bonheur was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur, the first woman so honored. An early Bohemian and feminist, Bonheur defied female convention of the day by dressing in pants and smoking cigarettes.