Rosa Bonheur l’audacieuse
(The audacious Rosa Bonheur) Book not yet available in English
Summary:
Rosalie Bonheur has always known that for a woman, freedom comes with financial independence! It is a lesson she learned from her father, Raimond Bonheur, who enrolled her in a sewing apprenticeship to teach her a trade. But Rosa hates sewing: she dreams of following in her father’s footsteps as a painter. She gets herself expelled and stubbornly insists on learning from her father until he gives in. She decides to specialise in animal paintings. Thus begins a long career, as Rosa Bonheur’s perseverance and talent make her one of the nineteenth century’s best known animal painters. She can always count on the support of Nathalie, a young woman with delicate health that Rosa falls in love with…
Edited by: Université Sorbonne Paris Nord
Comment:
A fictional biography of the famous nineteenth-century artist Rosa Bonheur. Based on solid research, it paints a touching portrait of an artist who had to fight for her right to paint. The narrative focuses on Rosa’s life from the ages of fourteen to twenty-seven. It begins when she meets Nathalie Micas and ends with the couple moving to the countryside. The historical aspect sheds interesting light on women’s lives in the nineteenth century, but the most fascinating element is Rosa Bonheur’s incredible life as a woman eager for independence, who always refused to marry and who openly shared her life with a woman without caring what people thought. At a time when women were not allowed to study art formally, Rosa Bonheur managed to earn a living by her paintbrush and made a name for herself in a male-dominated arena. The inspiring story of a woman determined to ignore social conventions and carve out her own path.