Lot 139
  • 139

Rosa Bonheur

Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 USD
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Description

  • Rosa Bonheur
  • Lion in a Mountainous Landscape
  • signed Rosa Bonheur and dated 1880 (lower left)
  • oil on canvas
  • 15 1/4 by 18 3/4 in.
  • 38.5 by 47.5 cm

Provenance

Sale: Sotheby's, New York: June 28, 2001, lot 275, illustrated
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 23, 2007, lot 127, illustrated
Acquired at the above sale

Condition

Lined. The picture surface is in very good condition aside from a very fine, stable web of craquelure. Under UV: scattered dots and dashes of retouching are visible across to address prior craquelure. A few slightly larger areas of retouching are visible in the sky.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Bonheur was equally interested in the exotic as she was the native fauna of France. She travelled to the United States in the late 1880s , accompanying Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West Show and sketching the bison of the American West. Bonheur often visited the Menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, which was founded in 1793 to display exotic animals to a public eager for novelty. The first inhabitants were from the recently disbanded royal menagerie; the collection grew under the careful eye of Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737–1814) and Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844) to house animals returned by French officials, ranging from elephants to zebras. Antoine-Louis Barye and Eugène Delacroix were among the first to take advantage of the new attraction, now recognized as the second oldest zoological garden in the world, and this is certainly where Bonheur would have been exposed to large cats.