• A retrospective is dedicated to the painter Rosa Bonheur at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

  • The opportunity to come back to the reasons for her newfound popularity, in particular her life as a free, lesbian woman, who ignored some of the codes of her time.

  • Rosa Bonheur was not, however, a "rebel", points out in an article in the catalog of the exhibition an art historian.

She has become, despite herself, a kind of icon for feminists and the LGBT community.

And she is now one of the very few female painters to have benefited from a retrospective at the Musée d'Orsay - only Berthe Morisot had received this honor before her, three years ago, in an era marked by #MeToo , where museums are now singled out when they display 100% male programming.

Paying “femage” to Rosa Bonheur is both highlighting a woman, but also a committed, free, strong woman, who left her mark on her time and who represents a model for women of yesterday and today. today.

Because before falling into oblivion, Rosa Bonheur was a real international star, coupled with a code breaker.

Short hair and pants, “she had an influence through the image she sent back more than through the works,” explains Leïla Jarbouai, curator of the exhibition dedicated to her.

Sorority

An example reported in the exhibition is the will that she will bequeath to Anna Klumpke, a young woman who is 44 years younger than her, but whom she recognizes, a year before her own death, as a "sister of brush”.

A decision that will arouse the ire of his family, but Rosa Bonheur does not care.

"She does as she pleases, she sets up her own rules", comments Leïla Jarbouai.

This is not the only example of sisterhood.

Rosa Bonheur, who had an immense fortune, wanted to take over the free drawing school for girls that her father had created.

“She told young girls to be stubborn and ambitious,” explains Leïla Jarbouai.

She was also keen to buy the works of young women painters to encourage their work, according to her friend Virginie Demont-Breton.

And she herself benefited from the support of women, starting with her partner Nathalie Micas, ally of a life, and the mother of the latter, whom she both installed in her castle of By.

They will take care of “the kitchen, the barnyard and the animals”, writes Rosa Bonheur, so that she can devote herself to her art.

"It's not a feminism protest"

But if Rosa Bonheur's life makes her a model feminist, because she struggled to find a place for herself in a world of men and ignored some of the obligations and conveniences associated with her gender at that time, the artist never claimed herself as such to the public.

“She was not part of the feminist movements but agreed to serve as a model.

She didn't want to be categorized as a feminist.

It is not a protest feminism but one that speaks through its life and work,” explains Leïla Jarbouai.

Above all, she wanted to demonstrate "to the whole world that genius has no sex" according to Anna Klumpke, who wrote her biography.

In an article devoted to her in the exhibition catalogue, Annie-Paule Quinsac, art historian and expert on the work of Rosa Bonheur, goes even further: "The political conservatism that was hers, the respect for certain conventions and the social hierarchy itself, as well as her love of luxury, make any attempt to see her as a rebel lead to a misreading.

The historian adds: “The 'transvestite permission' that she obtained from the police headquarters and obtained for Nathalie Micas from 1857 was seen as a proclamation of cross-dressing.

It was really practical considerations: going unnoticed at cattle fairs and being able to ride as she pleased.

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No rebel, therefore, but a "role model", as the English expression sums it up, and not only for the gendered aspects.

The exhibition shows first and foremost how much Rosa Bonheur loved to paint animals, and her work constitutes a form of ecological advocacy before its time.

“She hunted, ate meat.

But she was sensitive to the protection of animals and the forest.

She was very early member of the SPA.

She has illustrated books against animal abuse, ”lists Leïla Jarbouai.

In short, as summed up by the exhibition curator, it “speaks to our times”.


Culture

Bordeaux: From the animal cause to the American Indians, the abundant life of Rosa Bonheur at the Museum of Fine Arts

Paris

The Rosa Bonheur festival celebrates female creation, with Clara Ysé or Juliette

  • Paris

  • Orsay Museum

  • Paint

  • Museum

  • Feminism

  • Animals

  • Ile-de-France