Reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur

A 1910 work recalling one the most important animal painters and most colourful personalities of the nineteenth century.

Theodore Stanton (Edited and translated by)

9781108080736, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 May 2019

482 pages, 39 b/w illus.
21.5 x 13.9 x 3 cm, 0.5 kg

Regarded as the foremost animal painter of her time and the most famous female artist of the nineteenth century, Rosa Bonheur (1822–99) is best known for her works Ploughing in the Nivernais and The Horse Fair. She showed an early talent for drawing people and animals, and quickly determined that art would be her career, visiting the abattoirs of Paris and performing dissections in order to better understand animal anatomy. Through her independent spirit, successful career and unconventional lifestyle she made men and other women aware of what could be achieved. Of the various sources of biographical detail about Bonheur, this 1910 publication is among the most authoritative. Incorporating translated letters between the artist and her friends and family members, it provides invaluable first-hand evidence of her approach to painting and her views on the art world more widely. The work is illustrated throughout with many fine engravings.

1. Early life
2. Raymond Bonheur
3. Raymond Bonheur (cont.)
4. The Micas family
5. Early travels
6. Rosa Bonheur as a letter writer
7. Family letters
8. Letters to friends
9. Fontainebleau
10. The war of 1870
11. Rosa Bonheur's love of animals
12. Other mental and personal traits
Index to letters
General index.

Subject Areas: The arts: general issues [AB]