Art history often focuses on the celebrity genius—exceptional men who mark an era. Too often, extraordinary women artists have been overlooked despite their inventiveness, popularity, and resounding triumphs in their era—certainly true of women making art in France in the 1800s. But nothing was going to stop Rosa Bonheur from her calling--as an artist and unprecedented, as a woman depicting animals in paint and bronze. She challenged societal rules that restricted where women could go and what they could learn. From the slaughterhouse to public auctions, from the Highlands of Scotland to the forests of Fontainebleau, Bonheur surged forward on her quest to show animals with regal splendor, in all their metaphorical glory.

In this image-rich talk, we will learn about:
• The artistic style of Realism in France
• The limitations on how most women lived in Paris in the 1800s
• Bonheur's determined boldness and dedication to being an artist, blasting through considerable societal obstacles
• Her tremendous career success, both in the conventional art world and with the public, in the male-dominated world of the animalier - a portrayer of animals
• The story of how her greatest masterpiece, and one of the all-time great French paintings, ended up in an American museum • the unusual friendships Bonheur cultivated, including with Buffalo Bill Cody
• Bonheur's cloaked personal life, including two devoted lesbian love relationships Come revel in Rosa Bonheur’s heroic depictions of powerful animals, symbols for her strength, human harmony with the natural world, and the raw transcendence of the nation itself. No doubt, her majestic work will leave you feeling bolder yourself
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In colaboration with: The Stone Ridge, Staatsburgh & Millbrook Libraries
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Audience: Adults