Interpretation
Bonheur was renowned for her animal paintings. She may have seen the long-eared terrier that is the subject of this oil study in the Fontainebleau forest, near her home in Thomery, or it may have been one of the many pets she kept throughout her life. Bonheur’s work is characterized by direct observation and careful draftsmanship. Traditional in her approach, she produced numerous preparatory sketches, like this one, before creating a painting. In 1865, Bonheur became the first woman awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, a coveted honor established by Napoleon.
Information
- Title
- Study of a Dog
- Object Number
- y1976-23
- Maker
- Rosa Bonheur
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dates
- possibly 1860s
- Dimensions
- 33.3 × 28.2 cm (13 1/8 × 11 1/8 in.) frame: 46.7 × 41.9 × 5.4 cm (18 3/8 × 16 1/2 × 2 1/8 in.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Stuart P. Feld, Class of 1957, and Mrs. Feld
- Culture
- French
- Signatures
- Signed in paint, lower right: Rosa Bonheur
The artist (until 1900; sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 30–31 and June 2, 1900, ?lot 1862); art market, Cambridge, MA (ca. 1957/1961; sold to Feld); Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Feld, New York (ca. 1957/1961–1976; gift to the Princeton University Art Museum).
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1976," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 36, no. 1 (1977): p. 28-40., p. 30
- Rosalia Shriver, Rosa Bonheur: with a checklist of works in American collections, (Philadelphia: Art Alliance Press, 1982).
- William Secord, Dog Painting: The European Breeds (Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 2000)., pl. 466, p. 314
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