Rosa Bonheur (March 16, 1822 - May 25, 1899) was born in Bordeanx to Raimond Oscar Bonheur and Sophie Marquis. Her father, Raimond, was an art teacher and Rosa was one of his students. Her mother was a musician. Rosa’s favorite subject was animals, and she learned much about the anatomy by dissecting animals in slaughter houses. Rosa learned much from her father who also encouraged her to take art as a career and also taught her to be independent. During the 19th century, art was considered to be a lady’s part time, but due to Raimond’s influence, Rosa understood art as her calling and made a livelihood out of it. Due to her hard work, Rosa became the most popular artist of her time. Not only as the best painter of animals but also as a professional artist with a successful career. For this and many other reasons, Rosa became the first woman to be awarded the Grand cross by the French Legion of Honor. In 1828, her father joined the saint Simeons at their retreat outside Parish and his family joined him at the Perish.
However, just after four years, her father abandoned them to live in isolation with his fellow saint Simeons. A year later, Rosa’s mother died and the family was taken in by the Mica’s family who resided nearby. All these did not deter Rosa from pursuing her career since she had already been trained by her father who allowed her to study in all male classes. Her hard work made her to obtain a written permission to wear men’s slacks. Rosa exhibited at the annual Paris Salon regularly, and earned a successful living as a painter of animals. In 1848, she won the Salon’s gold medal and in the same year the French government commissioned her to paint “plowing on the Nevernais”. She died in 1899 aged 77.
