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HelpWomen in Art History (10)
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This Round: Rosa Bonheur 1822 – 1899
Rosa Bonheur, born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur, was a French artist. Bonheur was widely considered to be the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century. At school she was often disruptive, and was expelled numerous times. After a failed apprenticeship with a seamstress at the age of twelve, her father undertook her training as a painter. Her father allowed her to pursue her interest in painting animals by bringing live animals to the family's studio for studying.
Rosa was also an open lesbian "first living with partner Nathalie Micas for over 40 years and then, after Micas' death, forging a relationship with American painter Anna Elizabeth Klumpke. By living her life openly in an era when lesbianism was disparaged by the government, Bonheur staked her claim as a groundbreaking individual both in her career and her personal life". In a world where gender expression was policed, Rosa Bonheur broke boundaries by deciding to wear pants, shirts and ties. She did not do this because she wanted to be a man, though she occasionally referred to herself as a grandson or brother when talking about her family; rather, Bonheur identified with the power and freedom reserved for men. Wearing men's clothing gave Bonheur a sense of identity in that it allowed her to openly show that she refused to conform to societies' construction of the gender binary.
Rosa was decorated with the French Legion of Honour by the Empress Eugénie in 1865, and was promoted to Officer of the order in 1894. She was the first female artist to be given this award. Women were often only reluctantly educated as artists in Bonheur's day, and by becoming such a successful artist she helped to open doors to the women artists that followed her.
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Choose your favourite Rosa Bonheur painting
1) Wild Cat (1850)
2) Deer in Repose (1867)
3) Wild Boars in the Snow (c. 1872-1877)
4) Highland Cattle (1876)
5) Head Of A Calf (1878)
6) Toutou, the Beloved (1885)
7) La Labourage
8) The Grey Horse (At The Horse Fair)
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THE NEXT GENERATION
- Optional second middle name starts with the letter R
Links are optional
1) Child three, a daughter
- Her first name is a food or has a food in it’s meaning (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/food)
- Her middle name ends in the letters “LE”
2) Child two, a daughter
- Her first name is nine letters or longer
- Her middle name is a French diminitive (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/usage/french/tag/diminutives)
3) Child six, a daughter
- Her first name is a combination name with Mary, Maria or Marie (Maryanna, María de la Cruz, Marie-Claire etc)
- Her middle name is “gold” (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/gold)
4) A child of your choice, a son
- His first name is three syllable or longe Biblical name
- His middle name starts and ends with a vowel
5) A child of your choice, a daughter
- Her first name is from a member of The Belgium Royal Family (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/feminine/tag/belgian_royal_family)
- Her middle name is in the top 200-250, 2023, France (https://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/france/2023)
6) Child one, a son
- His first name is a Downtown Abbey character (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/downton_abbey_characters)
- His middle name is invented (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/invented)
7) Child five, a son
- His first name and middle name are Fire Emblem characters (https://www.behindthename.com/names/gender/masculine/tag/fire_emblem_characters)
8) Child four, a son
- His first name contains the letters “EL”
- His middle name is in the top 50-100, 1935, Scotland (https://www.behindthename.com/top/lists/scotland/1935)
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I am in the mood
to dissolve
in the sky.
- Virginia Woolf
This message was edited 12/19/2024, 11:52 AM
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