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Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)
Oxen Ploughing in Nevers, also called The First Dressing or
Plowing in Nivernais, 1849. Oil on canvas
© RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d'Orsay) / DR

formally accepted into the ranks of internationally renowned French After Bonheur added some finishing touches to the painting, The
artists and secured her financial independence. But the story of the Horse Fair made its way across the Atlantic. After being exhibited at
painting does not end there. several premier galleries in New York, Gambart sold the painting to
New Jersey collector William P. Wright in 1857. In 1866, Wright sold
m it to Alexander T. Stewart, a New York department store magnate. The
After its groundbreaking debut at the Paris Salon, an international final owner was millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt, who purchased the
cohort of art connoisseurs competed for ownership of The Horse Fair. painting at the estate sale of Stewart's widow in 1887. A prominent
Charles de Morny, the same French Minister of Fine Arts who had philanthropist and patron of the arts, Vanderbilt secured The Horse
initially passed on The Horse Fair in favor of another Bonheur painting, Fair as a gift to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it resides today
attempted to reclaim the commission but was refused. Apparently, as one of the finest pictures in the museum’s collection.
Napoleon III also made an offer that Bonheur rejected as being too low.
After being exhibited throughout Europe, with stops in Ghent and m
Bordeaux, The Horse Fair was finally purchased by British art dealer The Horse Fair remains one of the most celebrated works by an
Ernest Gambart in 1854 for a staggering 40,000 francs. French art crit- artist working in the Animalier tradition. Rosa Bonheur combined her
ics lamented the sale to England as “a national loss.” Gambart promptly training as a painter with the empirical eye of a scientist, and the
took the painting on a tour of Britain, where it was shown to Charles ongoing relevancy of her work speaks to a sustained popular interest in
Eastlake, John Ruskin, and Edwin Henry Landseer, a fellow Animalière animal biology and behavior. As Bonheur’s 200th birthday is fast
famous for his paintings of dogs and horses. To cap it off, in 1855 approaching (2022), this is a milestone worth celebrating.
Queen Victoria requested a private viewing at Buckingham Palace.
Gambart likely hoped the Queen would offer to purchase the painting;
instead, Queen Victoria sent a note expressing her admiration, which Below: Three dogs from a series of sheepherders’ dogs
undoubtedly enhanced its value. painted by Rosa Bonheur in 1879
(l-r) Brizo, Martin, and Tayo

22 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles