Fine engraving by J L Atkinson after the 1881 painting by Rosa Bonheur.
Published by H L Lefevre, King Street, London, August 1883. (The engraving took over a year to create.) Dimensions; 26 x 38 inches. Signed by the artist in the plate and by the etcher engraver in pencil in the margin.
Rosa Bonheur was born to an artistic couple. Her father, Oscar-Raymond Bonheur, was an artist, art teacher and supporter of independent thought in his children, while her mother was a music teacher. Her father gave Rosa, brothers Auguste and Isadore, and sister Juliette (all of whom also became artists) art lessons.
Her fascination with animals manifests itself in her art. Rosa was a hit with the public, and exhibited yearly at the Salon beginning in 1841. She achieved great success and was a talked about character in the public eye: she earned a living as an artist, won awards, smoked in public, wore overalls (she needed a special license to do so) and visited slaughterhouses to study animal anatomy.
After her 1853 masterpiece "The Horse Fair " she became well known throughout Europe and the USA.
She received the Légion d’honneur from the Empress Eugénie, in 1865, previously only held by men
She bought an estate near the Forest of Fontainebleau and settled there with her life-long companion, Nathalie Micas (and, after Micas' death, American painter Anna Klumpke), and her menagerie of animals.
She created many animalier works in bronze.
She is revered for being an outspoken feminist, and contributed substantially to the recognition of women artists by the establishment.
