Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) - Walking Bull

Very famous as an animal painter but also as a sculptor, she showed a precocious talent by drawing animals in the Bois de Boulogne and even in the slaughterhouses where she willingly went around dressed as a man. She made her debut at the 1841 Salon with paintings and the following year she exhibited sculptures.
She did not practice sculpture until the 1850s.
Many of them are of livestock: bulls, one of her favorite themes, oxen, sheep, horses ......
Very appreciated in England and protected by the Queen, Rosa Bonheur received numerous distinctions both in France and abroad.
Her sculptures were published in their quasi totality by the founder Hippolyte Peyrol her brother-in-law. He married his younger sister Juliette.

Our powerful bull has kept its original dark brown patina as well as a beautiful quality of casting and chasing.
To note, we can slightly see the joint of fixation of the tail (photo).
Cast iron of old edition.
Signed on the terrace. Rosa B.

In 2022, the Musée d'Orsay celebrated as it should be the bicentenary of his birth with a beautiful exhibition highlighting the talent of this extraordinary artist