Rare French Bronze Sculpture of "Resting Bull" by Rosa Bonheur
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Rare French Bronze Sculpture of "Resting Bull" by Rosa Bonheur
About the Item
- Creator:Rosa Bonheur (Sculptor)
- Dimensions:Height: 5.63 in (14.31 cm)Width: 11.25 in (28.58 cm)Depth: 7.13 in (18.12 cm)
- Style:Romantic (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1860
- Condition:Some minor handling wear to the tip of the bull's hip, the tip of the tail, some trace wear to raised foliage/elements of the base and some light wear around the edges of the base. A fine presentation.
- Seller Location:Shippensburg, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: 110MCO16W1stDibs: LU1059026518102
Rosa Bonheur
Rosa Bonheur was among the most accomplished female painters of the 19th century, a time when women were typically not encouraged to pursue fine arts as a profession. Bonheur never married and lived openly as a lesbian. She is remembered for her realist animal paintings and highly detailed bronze animal sculptures.
Bonheur was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1822. Her mother died when she was just 11. Her father, a painter, believed in female education and supported her artistic pursuits. He oversaw Bonheur’s painting education after her unsuccessful apprenticeship as a seamstress.
Bonheur rose to prominence relatively early in her career. In 1848, the French government commissioned a piece for an exhibition at the Paris Salon. The resulting painting, Ploughing in the Nivernais, is today in the collections of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Around this time, she began a relationship with fellow artist Nathalie Micas. The pair remained together for the rest of Micas’s life.
Bonheur’s most famous painting, The Horse Fair, was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1853 and completed in 1855. It is a depiction of the horse market, where Bonheur went twice a week for a year and a half to work on her sketches. She applied for a police permit to wear men’s clothing for comfort and to dissuade attention. The painting, which measures eight feet across, is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
In 1855, Bonheur’s art dealer introduced her work to the United Kingdom, where her art proved even more popular than in her home country. Her financial success allowed her to move to a large property near Fontainebleau, France, in 1859, where she lived for the rest of her life. It has since been renamed Château de Rosa Bonheur and includes a museum dedicated to her work.
Bonheur was awarded the decoration of the French Legion of Honour in 1865 and was promoted to Officer of the Order in 1894, becoming the first female artist to receive the honor. In 1893, she exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Bonheur died in 1899 at the age of 77. She was buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery next to Nathalie Micas.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Rosa Bonheur’s sculptures.
- French, Antique Bronze Sculpture of Aberdeen Angus Bull by Isidore BonheurBy Isidore Jules BonheurLocated in Shippensburg, PAISIDORE JULES BONHEUR French, 1827-1901 Taureau Aberdeen-Angus" (Standing Aberdeen-Angus Bull) Patinated sand-cast bronze Signed to base "I. BONHEUR" Item # 211HDB17Z An exquisite and very rare casting of an Aberdeen-Angus bull, an unusual and distinctive breed of cattle from Scotland, this sculpture by Isidore Jules Bonheur is almost without a doubt cast by the foundry of his brother-in-law Hippolyte Peyrol and a rather early model as well in light of the distinctive construction method. In her text on the selection of 46 animal bronzes in the collection of the Georgia Museum of Art, Eleanor Luciano notes regarding this model that "Bonheur is never recorded to have been to Scotland, where he would have seen this unusual breed. Rosa Bonheur painted in Scotland, and its seems likely that Isidore would have drawn the idea for this bull either from one of her sketches or from an agricultural show in France. The animal's rich mane and strong modeling make this one of the most successful." Notable is the very fine surface patination which exhibits a glassy finish with a complex range of colors presenting in the body of the bull, overall being medium brown but augmented with an underlying reddish hue against auburn highlights. The base is signed "I. BONHEUR" in the typical manner. Museum Collections: * National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, acc. no. 2006.128.3 * Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia...Category
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Born on March 16, 1822 in Bordeaux, Marie Rosalie Bonheur was the oldest of the four children of Raimond Oscar Bonheur (1796-1849) and Sophie Marquis. Bonheur's father was an art teacher who came from a poor family, while her mother, a musician, had descended from a middle-class family and had been her husband's art student. Bonheur's father, who taught drawing and landscape painting, was an ardent member of the utopian Saint Simeon society. The group held idealistic beliefs about the reform of work, property, marriage, and the role of women in society. Most importantly, for the artist's future, the Saint Simeons questioned traditional gender norms and firmly believed in the equality of women. While teaching artistic techniques to his oldest daughter, Raimond Bonheur also encouraged her independence and taught her to consider art as a career. In 1828 Raimond Bonheur joined the Saint Simeons at their retreat outside Paris. Sophie and the children joined him in Paris the following year. Four years later, however, Raimond abandoned his family to live in isolation with his fellow Saint Simeons. Sophie Bonheur died in 1833 at the age of thirty-six. Rosa was only eleven years old when her mother died, but she was aware of the heavy price her mother paid for married life with a man who was more dedicated to his own ideals than to meeting his family's needs. Rosa also saw that her mother's marriage led to poverty and her death from exhaustion. After her mother's death, Bonheur was taken in by the Micas family who resided nearby. Mme Micas and Bonheur's mother had been friends. When Mme Bonheur died, the Micas family paid Raimond Bonheur's debts and cared for Rosa. Their daughther, Nathalie, who would later become an amateur inventor and unschooled veterinarian, and Rosa became enamored with each other. When Rosa Bonheur began her career as a professional artist, she had already been trained by her father who had allowed her to study in all male classes. 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