I recently read a captivating article in the Smithsonian magazine about a French artist I’d never heard of, Rosa Bonheur (March 16, 1822—May 25, 1899). Her story is a perfect topic for Women’s History Month.
Named Marie-Rosalie, she started painting as a child, with a little instruction from her art teacher father, and by copying paintings in the Louvre. By the time she was 26, she was winning awards for her art. Empress Eugénie (the wife of Napoleon III) awarded her the medal of Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur, the first woman to be so honored for achievement in the arts. Royalty of Mexico, Spain, and Russia also honored her. She was the richest and most famous female artist of 19th-century France. Yet, today, few recognize her name.
Bonheur loved nature, and she collected many pets, such as dogs, sheep, horses, monkeys, lions, and tigers. She produced many detailed, life-like paintings and sculptures of animals. She liked to observe animals up close, often in all-male settings like livestock fairs and slaughterhouses. Wearing the long skirts of the day in such locations would be inconvenient; she had to apply for a special permit to wear male clothing, documented by a letter from her physician that it was required “for reason of health.”
The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur, 1855-59
Plowing in Nevers by Rosa Bonheur
Weaning the Calves by Rosa Bonheur, 1879
A Limier Briquet Hound by Rosa Bonheur, 1856
Walking Bull by Rosa Bonheur, 1846
Shorn Ewe by Rosa Bonheur, 1842
Rosa Bonheur achieved fame as an artist at a time when most female artists were not even taken seriously. After her death, her work fell out of fashion, but a woman recently purchased Bonheur’s former residence, which she is transforming into a museum of her work. To learn more about Bonheur and the effort to give her the attention she deserves, click the link in the first paragraph of this post.
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Maybe you’re standing in a place where the sky and the mountains are very dramatic; the trees have incredible color and the water is vibrant. You have to decide what you want your painting to be about, render that element the most important, and then paint everything else to support it.
~ Scott Christensen in On Distant Ground, about landscape painting
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One of my favorite blogs, which I visit almost every day, is MyOBT, which stands for “one beautiful thing.” Donna’s mission is to post one beautiful thing every day, and she succeeds, although sometimes the post might be more funny than beautiful. (But I always appreciate a laugh—don’t you?) If you follow Creative Juice every Friday, you know it almost always contains a post from MyOBT. I try not to post more than one article from any one blog on a single Friday, but in Donna’s case I sometimes have to make an exception, because her output of beauty is just so vast and I want to share it all. In fact, if you love her posts, too, you should follow her blog yourself so you don’t miss a single one. If you need more convincing, today’s CJ features a dozen wonderful posts from MyOBT.
Claude Monet (France, November 14, 1840—December 5, 1926) is remembered as the founder of the Impressionist school of painting. In fact, the name of the movement was taken from one of his early paintings, Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise).
Impression, soleil levant, by Claude Monet
He always wanted to be an artist. As a boy, he drew charcoal caricatures, which he sold for ten or twenty francs each. His mother, a singer, supported his artistic dreams. His father wanted him to take over the family business, selling groceries and shipping supplies.
Water lilies, by Claude Monet
An early influence was Eugéne Boudin, whom he met on the beaches of Normandy, and who mentored him in oils and plein air (outdoor painting) techniques. While other young painters copied works of the masters, Monet preferred to work directly from subjects. He was particularly interested in how changes of light affected how things appeared. He often painted the same scenes multiple times, in different seasons and at different times of day, to catalog how the differing light affected the colors.
Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge by Claude Monet
The traditional way that painting was taught in France in his day did not appeal to Monet. He preferred to dab the paint on, placing different colors next to each other, allowing the eye to blend them rather than blending them on the palette. He and his friends (among them the likes of Manet, Renoir, Degas, Pizarro, and Cézanne) broke with the Salon de Paris and put on their own exhibitions.
Weeping Willow, by Claude Monet
Monet married his first wife, Camille, in 1870. She was the subject of several of his paintings, and they had two sons together. She died in 1878. A friend’s estranged wife, Alice, helped him raise his children along with her six.
Camille Monet on a Garden Bench, by Claude Monet
In 1883 Monet rented a property on two acres in Giverny. He and his extended family improved the gardens, and Monet did some of his best painting there. His dealer was very successful selling his paintings, and Monet bought the property in 1890. When Alice’s husband passed away, Monet married her.
For the writers: We unsubscribed from the local newspaper about a year ago—it just got way too expensive. But if you still read the local newspaper, have you considered it as a writing resource?
You can’t do every good thing. Here is an October Zentangle challenge that I’d love to be doing, but I’m participating in two other October challenges. I know my limits. However, I love what Alice has done.
Remember when kids used to go back to school? It could happen, and if it does, you may want to take special photographs to record the momentous occasion.
Do you like sci-fi short stories? This article from two years ago tells you where to find some good ones.
Do you like to read YA? Here’s a list of particularly intense books.
The ICAD Day 54 prompt was outline. This is my interpretation:
Day 55’s prompt was paisley. I painted a wet-on-wet watercolor background and drew on top of it.
World Watercolor Month’s prompt for Day 27 was shine:
ICAD’s Day 58 prompt was tea set:
Day 29’s prompt for World Watercolor Month was yesterday. My response is based on the Lennon-McCartney song. This is the most liked post on my Instagram page this week:
For Day 30, I decided to fiddle with an idea for a logo for ARHtistic License:
I went off-prompt for the final day of both challenges. Months ago I tore a page out of a magazine that had a picture of paper plates printed with folk-art florals, which inspired this. It’s my personal favorite of the week and possibly of the entire challenge.
All in all, I completed 54 cards. Technically I only participated on 51 of the 61 days, but one day I painted 4 cards.
I love doing challenges because it stretches me, encourages me to try new things, learn things I didn’t know before. I hope you’ll join me next year.
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