Viewing her paintings, one becomes a witness to a timeless message left as the legacy of a great artist. Rosa Bonheur was a committed woman whose art overflowed from her fingertips. Booster2Success opens the doors of the Musée d’Orsay to reveal its most beautiful works, specially selected for the Rosa Bonheur exhibition.

Rosa Bonheur, an expert with the brush and lover of animals

She was the first woman artist to receive the Legion of Honour. Marie-Rosalie Bonheur was born in Bordeaux on 16 March 1822, into a family of artists. A free, passionate woman, she was a model of women’s emancipation. 200 years later, her struggles resonate even more strongly. The place of women in society, the cause of animal welfare, inequalities – Rosa Bonheur’s brushstrokes have preserved subjects from another era that still resonates today.

Surrounded by animals since childhood, she quickly developed a passion for the natural world. She learned drawing and painting at an early age in the studio of her father, the painter Raymond Bonheur. She used her advanced technique to create animal paintings of dazzling realism, as shown below in the first painting she exhibited at the Salon des Artistes at the age of 19: “Two Rabbits”. 

Beyond her art’s beauty, it has a true message that she carried throughout her life. “Mankind has understood nothing about animals. Animals have understood everything about mankind. That is the problem.” For Rosa Bonheur, animals had a soul, and their eyes were the window to it. The paintings in the Rosa Bonheur exhibition demonstrate the relationships of power that man can have over animals and sometimes the harmony that seems to bind them. The love and attention to detail that she invested in her work made her one of the greatest animal painters.

» READ ABOUT – Artistic and cultural treasure hunt for a team building at musee d’Orsay

The Rosa Bonheur exhibition: a short-lived tribute to an immortal talent

In honour of the bicentenary of her birth, the Musée d’Orsay is paying tribute to the most decorated artist of the 19th century. Though she was soon forgotten after her death, this event brings Rosa Bonheur’s immense talent back to light in an eponymous exhibition. 

Booster2Success slipped into the museum to uncover the meticulous selection of 200 works of painting, sculpture and photography from prestigious public and private collections in Europe and the USA. The Rosa Bonheur exhibition is rich in artistic diversity. The artist played with the formats of her paintings – sometimes they were very small, sometimes they were huge, like her most famous painting “Le marché aux chevaux” (The Horse Market), which was 5 metres long and sold for 40,000 francs, a record for its time. 

Behind her canvases lies a great woman, an immense talent and some powerful messages. The Musée d’Orsay is ready to display all the hitherto hidden secrets of the Rosa Bonheur exhibition…

For an unforgettable visit to one of the world’s most beautiful museums, Booster2Success invites you to take part in its Musée d’Orsay team building event in order to admire the most beautiful collections of art housed there.

Photo credit: Booster2Success

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