Rosa Bonheur 1822-1899

Artist's Studio Sale, Paris, 1900;
Victor Franses Gallery, London

Old relining. There is slight craquelure to the surface with minor signs of paint separation in places, and very light surface dirt. Towards the lower edge the canvas weave is visible, and there is minor frame abrasion to the upper edge. Otherwise in good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals retouching, though a thick and uneven varnish prevents further inspection. Held in a heavy gold-painted wooden frame with minor damage to extremities.
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Rosa Bonheur, the most celebrated woman artist of the nineteenth century, received her formative artistic training along with her siblings Auguste, Juliette and Isidore Jules Bonheur in their artist-father's studio. She showed a precocious talent from an early age and a specific interest in painting animals, however as a woman she was denied any formal artistic training. Realising quickly the obstacle that her sex presented to a career as an artist, she began to dress as a man in order to penetrate the traditionally male spheres required for her art, such as the slaughterhouses of Paris. She greatly admired the English animal painter Sir Edwin Henry Landseer who, like George Stubbs before him, adopted a highly academic approach to his anatomical studies, spending invaluable hours dissecting animals before sketching and painting from life.  

In 1849, after much success at the Paris Salon in the previous year, she received a government commission to paint Ploughing in the Nivernais, her first critically-acclaimed work which now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. In recognition of her achievement she received the honour of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur, the highest order in France, which no woman before her had ever received. Her most well-known work is the monumental Horse Fair, painted in 1853, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The careers of both Auguste and Juliette Bonheur were somewhat overshadowed by Rosa during their lifetime, never quite receiving the same level of critical acclaim as their prolific sister. In 1863 Auguste received the honour of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in recognition of his talent. Juliette married Hippolyte Peyrol whose bronze foundry produced sculptures by Rosa and their brother, Isidore Jules Bonheur.

Sotheby's is delighted to be offering this interesting and eclectic collection which was compiled by the late Graham Franses who, with his father Victor, ran the well known Victor Franses Gallery located in Jermyn Street, London. The gallery has always specialised in bronzes by the leading Animailers but in the 1990s Graham expanded their expertise into paintings, including the current collection which is part of his impressive legacy.