Rosa Bonheur was a French realist painter and sculptor who specialized in animal paintings (animalière). Ploughing in the Nivernais and The Horse Fair, both initially shown at the Salon de Paris in 1848 and now on display at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, are two of her works. She was largely regarded as the most well-known female artist of the nineteenth century.

She was the daughter of a landscape and portrait painter and a piano instructor, and she was born in 1822. Her family was members of the Saint-Simonianism cult, which advocated women’s education alongside men’s.

In his 1869 essay of the same title, Francis Galton highlighted the Bonheurs as an example of “Hereditary Genius.” Her mother taught her to read by having her draw animals for each letter of the alphabet. Her father was a painter. The artist attributes her love of sketching animals to her mother’s reading lessons.

Bonheur studied veterinary medicine at the École nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort in Paris. She dissected animals and researched animal anatomy and osteology in Paris abattoirs. Nicolas Poussin and Peter Paul Rubens were two of Bonheur’s favorite painters.

Rosa Bonheur Age:How old was Rosa Bonheur Before His Death? How old is Rosa Bonheur Now?

Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born on March 16, 1822, in Bordeaux, France. If she were still living, she would be celebrating her 200th birthday today. She died on May 25, 1899, at the age of 77.