39: Misty Landscape

Rosa Bonheur
Bordeaux 1822 - 1899 Thomery, Seine-et-Marne

AGC-088: Fondation Custodia
Rights held by: Private collection

Considered to be the most famous woman painter of the 19th century, Bonheur was also the first woman artist to be awarded the Legion of Honor (in 1865) as well as the first woman to be promoted to officer of the order (in 1894). Excluded from formal art studies, she learned from her father and brothers as well as from Léon Cogniet and exhibited annually at the Paris Salon, achieving not only a degree of critical success but also considerable affluence.

Text written and researched by Michelle Bird National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Oil on paper, mounted on cardboard
15.8 × 31.7 cm

Section: Skies and Effects

This can be found in Gallery 13: Mellon Gallery Exhibitions