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Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)The Horse Fair,
1852–55, Oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fair
Fair

A Celebration of Rosa Bonheur’s Equestrian Masterpiece
A Celebration of Rosa Bonheur’s Equestrian Masterpiece
by Erica Lome, Ph. D.
by Erica Lome, Ph. D.

British Museum since 1817 and published widely. Her painting
style conformed to the prevailing Realism movement in French
art, which favored modern subjects, direct observation of the
natural world, and attention to detail and anatomy. Yet the Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)
unbridled passion evident Sheet of Studies for The Horse Fair,
in her work harkened 1840s. Black chalk and graphite.
back to an earlier phase Metropolitan Museum of Art
of Romanticism, as
typified by the works of
Eugène Delacroix and by any animal painter, and
Théodore Géricault. critics and artists alike hailed
it as a triumph. Eugène
m Delacroix even noted in his
In 1849, the French journal that Bonheur’s
government commis- painting had a greater effect
sioned Bonheur’s first than any of the previous
major success, Ploughing years’ entries.
in the Nivernais. This
bucolic image of a team of m
oxen set in a rural French landscape won a First Medal at the Paris In the mind of its Victorian audience, the artistic achievement of
Salon and gave Bonheur the freedom to embark on her next and far The Horse Fair had partially to do with Bonheur’s ability to “paint like
more ambitious project. a man.” One art journal called it “a wonderful work for any painter; but
At the time, few women artists depicted horses as subjects in their as the production of a female it is marvelous [sic] in conception and
painting; in fact, in an initial meeting with the French Minister of Fine execution” while another expressed surprise that “so masculine a work
Arts to secure an official commission, Bonheur was told that the subject is the production of a feminine hand.” That she was considered the
of The Horse Fair required a more experienced hand to be successful. exception to the rule undoubtedly enhanced the spectacle around the
Nevertheless, she persisted. Bonheur spent the next eighteen months painting. The Horse Fair also lent itself to a myriad of interpretations,
visiting the horse market on the Boulevard de l’Hôpital twice a week to primarily as a metaphor for taming the “wild” and “rebellious” spirit of
sketch the enormous draft horses seen in The Horse Fair. She even a woman, though others saw it as a triumphant reflection of French
secured permission from the police to dress in male attire in order to imperial power. Rosa Bonheur likely intended for this painting to serve
discourage unwelcome attention while closely observing her subject. as a testament to her talent and prowess, and even referred to The Horse
Looking at the finished product, you feel as though you are watching Fair as her own “Parthenon frieze.”
the action through Bonheur’s eyes. With the success of The Horse Fair, Bonheur was promptly declared
Rosa Bonheur was only 31 years old when The Horse Fair made its “hors de concours” (“outside of competition”), meaning she would no
Salon debut in 1853. At the time, it was the largest painting executed longer have to submit her entries to the Salon for acceptance. She was

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