Cow
Artist
Rosa Bonheur
(French, 1822-1899)
CultureFrench
Date19th century
MediumPencil on paper
DimensionsOverall: 7 3/4 x 9 7/8 in. (19.7 x 25.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number71.2633
Not on view
Label TextRosa Bonheur
French (1822-1899)
Bull, 19th century
Bronze
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2008
Cow, 19th century
Pencil on paper
Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2633
Painter, sculptor, and draftswoman, Rosa Bonheur built her career in Paris as an animalière, a portrayer of animals, which she rendered in a meticulously realist style. Independent and strong-willed, Bonheur ignored the limitations placed on academic training for women and instead taught herself art. She made life studies of farm animals-horses, bull, cows-and copied earlier animal paintings found in the Louvre. She studied animal anatomy in the city's slaughter-houses and even dissected animals at the National Veterinary Institute. Her efforts bore fruit in 1855, when her monumental Horse Fair (see illustration) brought her international acclaim.
Like Harriet Hosmer in Rome, Bonheur cut an eccentric figure in Paris, favoring female companions, men's clothes, and cigarettes. When challenged on her unconventional wardrobe, she merely claimed it simplified her field work with animals:
I was forced to recognize that the clothing of my sex was a constant bother. This is why I solicited the authorization to wear men's clothing from the prefect of police. But the suit I wear is my work attire, and nothing else. The epithets of imbeciles have never bothered me.
Exhibition History"France Delineated: French Works on Paper, 1650 to 1920", The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 13 - September 19, 1993.
"Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010.
