– AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Step 1 - Introducing the Rosa Bonheur Slideshow Guide

MOTIVATION BEGIN READING HERE Can you imagine having to get written permission from the police in order to dress in the kind of clothes you want to wear? Doesn’t that sound really strange? Let me tell you a very interesting story about today’s master artist, where this actually happened.

In May of 1857 in , France, a young artist applied for and received a police permit to wear men’s clothing in public. Men’s clothing consisted of long pants, a shirt and vest, and a jacket. Click Start Lesson To Begin

1. POLICE AUTHORIZATION

This is a copy of the police permit, which had to be renewed every six months. The permit was issued for health reasons and was countersigned by the artist’s doctor. Now, this may all sound rather strange to you -- having to get permission from the police to get dressed -- but in this case, the artist who wanted to dress in men’s clothing was a woman - - Rosa Bonheur.

Rosa Bonheur was thirty-five years old at the time she was issued this permit to wear long pants, but she had been wearing men’s clothing for many years already. She didn’t dress this way to be different or to outrage others. She was an who studied the anatomy and movement of cows and sheep at cattle fairs and slaughter and butcher houses. These were places where men worked, and women were basically not allowed. By wearing long pants and a short, cropped hairdo, Rosa Bonheur went almost unnoticed in a man’s world. Click Next To Change Slide

2. ENGRAVING OF THE ARTIST’S PARIS STUDIO

Although she could paint portraits, landscapes or still life paintings, Rosa Bonheur chose to paint animals, because she loved them. Her studio in Paris was filled with cages of birds, stalls with horses, cows, goats, sheep, ducks, cats, dogs, and rabbits. Can you find some of these animals in this drawing of her studio?

Rosa Bonheur’s love and study of animals allowed her to draw and paint them realistically, with an ability to show the special characteristics of any kind of animal or bird.

1 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Would you like to see her portrait? Click Next To Change Slide

3. PORTRAIT OF ROSA BONHEUR BY

Rosa’s brother, who was also an artist, painted this portrait of Rosa. Rosa had two younger brothers and one sister. Their father, who was an artist, trained all four Bonheur children as artists.

As a child, Rosa was allowed to explore and play in the garden and horse stables near her parents’ house. She loved to draw, but she hated school. At this time in France, over 150 years ago, it was not considered proper for a woman to become a professional artist. Women were not allowed to attend some of the best art schools. That is one reason why Rosa was trained by her father.

Let’s look at one of her paintings. Which animal will be featured? Your clue is “soft.” Click Next To Change Slide

4. RABBITS NIBBLING CARROTS

This painting was the very first one Rosa exhibited in Paris. She was only nineteen years old. Notice how she has captured the special qualities of the rabbits -- the soft, furry texture, the nervous alertness. Doesn’t it seem as if the rabbit on the right-hand side is about to wiggle his nose?

Where do you see dark colors? (BACKGROUND) That makes our eyes focus on the lighter-colored rabbits. She has placed the two rabbits at the front of the picture plane. If we divided this painting right down the middle, would the two sides balance each other? (Demonstrate a vertical division.) (YES) There is SYMMETRY or balance in the composition of this painting.

Even though this old painting has been badly scratched and damaged, does it look REALISTIC? (YES) How did she paint the soft TEXTURE of the rabbits’ fur to make it look REALISTIC? Let’s look closely and see the hundreds of very fine lines in different colors that she painted for the fur. We can’t feel the TEXTURE of the fur with our hands, because this is a painting, but we can feel it with our eyes.

In order to learn more about the animals she drew and painted, Rosa cut up animal parts from the butcher’s shop and made detailed drawings of muscles, tendons and bones. Rosa’s fascination with animals continued throughout her life. She loved to observe animals in the countryside and at the livestock shows and fairs where animals were bought and sold.

2 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

We are going to look at two paintings where she used her observations of animals, one in the countryside and one at a horse fair. Click Next To Change Slide

5. PLOWING IN THE NIVERNAIS (nee-ver-nay)

This first painting is called Plowing in the Nivernais (for the city of Nevers in Burgundy). The French government paid her a large sum of money to create a work, which would reflect on the beauty of the French countryside and the important work of the laboring farmer.

What would you say is the main subject of this painting besides the land? (THE OXEN) Are the farmers as important? (NO) Why not? (THEY ARE SMALLER. SHE WAS AN ANIMAL PAINTER.) Although Rosa Bonheur often shows men or women in her paintings, the animals are always the most important part of her painting.

In what direction do your eyes move in this COMPOSITION? (HORIZONTALLY)

Where does texture catch your eye? (PLOWED DIRT) How does that textured area contrast with other parts of the painting? (SMOOTH - HIDES OF OXEN, PLAIN SKY) The rough and smooth elements create contrast.

Now let’s look at one of Rosa Bonheur’s most famous paintings. Click Next To Change Slide

6. THE HORSE FAIR

Have you ever been horseback riding? Horses were an important form of transportation during Rosa’s lifetime, because there were no cars or buses yet. One way to purchase a horse was to attend a horse fair where horses were paraded around and examined. Rosa would visit these horse fairs with her sketchbook and drawing pencil and draw these beautiful animals.

It took Rosa Bonheur one year and a half to complete this painting that she called The Horse Fair. No animal painter had ever painted such a large picture of horses. It is over eight feet high (indicate height over head) and over sixteen feet wide (demonstrate approximate width). Would the size make the horses seem even more lifelike? (YES)

Are the horses standing still? (NO) They are moving all around. Do you see more straight lines or curved lines? (CURVED) Curved lines help us feel the movement of the horses and make it seem like we can hear the thundering of the horses’ hooves and feel the ground rumble and shake.

3 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Tell me what other details in the painting show movement? (HORSES REARING, LEGS EXTENDED, STRAINING AT THE BIT, PULLING AWAY FROM HANDLERS; SOME COME FORWARD)

What horse or horses caught your eye first? Did you notice the black and white horses in the middle that are rearing up? Why did you notice them first? (POWERFUL LOOKING, IN THE MIDDLE, OPPOSITE COLORS) Not only did Rosa make them strong and fast looking to make you notice them, but she also painted them in opposite colors: black and white. When an artist uses light and dark CONTRAST, we call that VALUE. It’s a way for an artist to bring attention to certain parts of a painting.

Rosa spent months and sometimes years on each painting. She made many preparatory sketches in pencil, chalk, watercolor, and oil. Click Next To Change Slide

7. STUDY FOR THE HORSE FAIR

This is a study for The Horse Fair. What is a study? (EARLY VERSION OF A WORK, OFTEN WITH LESS DETAIL THAN THE FINISHED WORK)

It is interesting to see that a major concern here was the relationship of dark and light areas. Do you remember the art term we just learned that means light and dark contrast in a work of art? (VALUE) See how she uses contrast in value, even in the study for The Horse Fair.

The Horse Fair was such a popular painting in France, that it was sent to England where viewed it at Buckingham Palace! Rosa Bonheur traveled with the painting and got to meet the Queen!

This painting was shown at the important annual art show called the Paris Salon. It was quite an honor for an artist to have his or her work chosen, because it was very selective. It was even more difficult for a woman artist at that time to get her work on display. Not only was The Horse Fair selected, but it also won a gold medal, so Rosa qualified to receive the highest civilian award given by the government of France -- the Legion of Honor. However, no woman had ever been awarded this honor, and so the French government refused to give it to her. When the government finally reversed their stand and delivered the Legion of Honor to her, she became the first woman to receive it.

By the time she was forty-two, Rosa Bonheur had become such a popular, successful artist that she was able to buy a big, beautiful house with lots of land in the French countryside. She needed all that space for her menagerie of animals such as dogs, ponies, deer, elk, horses, sheep, gazelles, bulls, cows, monkeys, a yak, a boar, an eagle and even a lion! There was one animal that was her favorite to paint. Which one do you think it was? - Click Next To Change Slide

4 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

8. KING OF THE DESERT

Yes, her favorite pet was a lion! Do you think this would be a good pet for you to have at home? (NO)

She made her pet lion look like a fierce king living in the African desert, but he was actually living in her home when she painted him. Let’s look at how she made her lion look so REALISTIC in the painting. What color is the mane around his face? (YELLOW OR ORANGE) From far away it may look like just one color of yellow or orange, but when we look closely at the hair, we can see she used several other colors like white, brown, red, black. Just like her earlier painting of the rabbits, she used a thin paintbrush to paint hundreds of lines of color to make the hair look real. Do you think it took her a long time to paint all those lines of color? (YES)

Rosa’s lion ate twenty pounds of meat every day. She actually had three lions over a period of years, but they all became ill.

One day, when she was upstairs in her country house, she heard a low growl on the stairs. It was the lioness trying to reach Rosa for comfort. Rosa went down to meet her. The lioness was dying. Rosa said that she held the great beast in her arms until it stopped breathing. It made her very sad.

The last ten years of Rosa Bonheur’s life were filled with excitement and work. In Paris she met Colonel William Frederick Cody. Does anyone know the nickname of this famous American? (BUFFALO BILL -- HINT: HE HAD BEEN A PONY EXPRESS RIDER, INDIAN FIGHTER, PROVIDER OF BUFFALO MEAT TO RAILROAD BUILDERS, A SHOWMAN AND ENTERTAINER)

Buffalo Bill brought a Wild West Show to Paris. There were native Americans, recreating Indian attacks on a stagecoach, cowboys, musicians, rifle shooting by Annie Oakley and an extravaganza of exotic animals from bison to mustangs. Does this sound like an exciting show to watch? Click Next To Change Slide

9. PHOTOGRAPH AT BUFFALO BILL’S HEADQUARTERS, PARIS

Rosa was fascinated and spent several months at the 35-acre campsite outside of Paris drawing and painting the animals. There were over 200 animals in the show to keep her busy! She turned her attention away from her animals long enough to paint Buffalo Bill’s portrait. Let’s take a look. Click Next To Change Slide

10. COLONEL WILLIAM F. CODY

5 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Here is this remarkable American frontiersman, turned showman, on his favorite horse. The horse trots into the foreground while Bill looks off into the distance. He wears American, western dress. Can you see the fringed buckskin shirt, cowboy hat and boots? He was known as an outstanding marksman. What is a marksman? (SOMEONE WHO SHOOTS WELL; SOMEONE WHO CAN HIT THE TARGET CONSISTENTLY) Legend said that he had killed over 4,000 buffaloes in eighteen months to feed workers building a western railroad in the United States. This is how he got his nickname.

Bill loved the portrait and sent it back home to Nebraska. Today it hangs in the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming. A story is told that when William Cody’s house caught on fire, he wired an order to his wife saying, “Save the Rosa Bonheur and let the flames take the rest.” That is how much he loved the portrait.

If you chose your favorite animal to pose with you in a portrait, what animal would it be? Let’s see what animal Rosa chose. Click Next To Change Slide

11. PORTRAIT OF ROSA BONHEUR BY EDOUARD-LOUIS DUBUFE

Did you guess a bull?

When Rosa first saw her finished portrait by her artist friend, she didn’t like the fact that she was leaning on a table. She thought it was boring. She repainted the work, putting in her favorite baby bull instead! She had a very good sense of humor! Which prop do you think would be more interesting, a table or a bull?

When this portrait sold, the artist gave half the money to Rosa for her addition.

She was at the height of her career when this was painted. She had won gold medals, and her paintings sold for a great deal of money.

CONCLUSION

She once said, “To be loved by wild animals, you must love them. I do not need worldly things. I care nothing for the fashionable. What can the world do for me? A portrait painter has need of many things, but not I. I find all that I need is in my dogs, my horses, my deer and my stags of the forest.”

In 1899, Rosa became ill and died of pneumonia at her country house in France. She had made a reputation as a successful, talented woman artist, who painted her great love of animals. Click Next To Start Quiz

6 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

REVIEW GAME

Are you familiar with the game Jeopardy? Our category today is “Rosa’s Art”. Pierre will give you an answer, and you must match it to the correct question. Start your question with one of these words: What? Where? or How? Let’s start by humming the Jeopardy theme song together.

REVIEW GAME ANSWERS (For Instructors Only)

The Answer Is: The Question Is:

1. Police Authorization What did Rosa Bonheur have to obtain in order to wear “men’s clothing?” 2. Animals of all kinds What did Rosa Bonheur paint throughout her career? 3. Rabbits Nibbling Carrots What was the very first painting Rosa exhibited in Paris? 4. Realistically How did Rosa Bonheur paint animals? 5. He wore a fringed buckskin Who is Buffalo Bill? shirt, cowboy hat, and boots 6. The Horse Fair What is the name of her most famous work? 7. Curved lines in The Horse How does Rosa Bonheur create a feeling of Fair movement in the horses? 8. Queen Victoria Who saw The Horse Fair at Buckingham Palace? 9. Because she was a woman, What was the Legion of Honor? this award was denied to her 10. A lion What pet did Rosa keep at her home?

You are excellent listeners! Have great fun working on your animal projects!

Click Next To Finish Lesson

to exit this unit click Back To Units

7 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Step 2 - Learning From: Rosa Bonheur Symmetrical Shapes

Rosa Bonheur studied animals carefully and painted them realistically. An animal’s face is symmetrical. A symmetrical shape is the same on both sides. You can tell by drawing a line down the middle.

Circle the letters in our artist’s name that are symmetrical.

Texture Try these techniques for adding texture to animals, as Bonheur did for .

8 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Drawing a Lion

Draw over the grey lines to make the face of the big cat darker. Now add ears and fur. Will your big cat have spots, stripes or a mane?

9 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Save this page for your art project.

10 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

The last few pages of this section contain the Art Activity for Rosa Bonheur. This step-by- step outline will be a guide for instructing your child(ren) through the activity. The parent/instructor should review all steps necessary to complete this project before beginning any work.

Cut out the Artist Profile Slip below and attach it to the back of the completed art project.

Rosa Bonheur

(boe-NER) - French 1822 -1899

Rosa Bonheur’s love of animals is shown in her realistic paintings. Nature was her favorite subject. We studied symmetry, texture, and value through her warm, inviting paintings.

ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Realistic Drawing of Animals MEDIA: Chalk

Rosa Bonheur

(boe-NER) - French 1822 -1899

Rosa Bonheur’s love of animals is shown in her realistic paintings. Nature was her favorite subject. We studied symmetry, texture, and value through her warm, inviting paintings.

ART ACTIVITY EMPHASIS: Realistic Drawing of Animals MEDIA: Chalk

11 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

Step 3 - Working With: Art Activity Instructions

ARTIST MEDIA Rosa Bonheur (boe-NER) Paper and chalk (1822-1899) French VOCABULARY ART ELEMENTS Realistic, earth-tones, value, highlights, Line, value and texture shadow, texture, detail

TECHNIQUE VISUALS Realistic drawing with chalk Print: The King of the Desert

EMPHASIS SUGGESTED MUSIC (On CD-Rom) Line drawing and textural Franz Joseph Haydn – 11th symphony No. effects with chalk 101 'The Clock'

MATERIALS FOR INSTRUCTOR AND CHILDREN One 9” x 9” light, medium, or dark brown construction paper (Students choose from an assortment of shades of brown.) Paper towel Artist profile slip Oil Pastels Masking tape Pencil Completed Learning Packet with Page 3 Big Cat Line Drawing

PREPARATION

Place the Bonheur print in front of the room. Tape the 9” x 9” brown (light shade for visibility) demonstration paper to the board, in the front of the room. Have the Big Cat Line Drawing taped next to the brown paper for demonstration with oil pastels close by.

SET-UP [ 5 minutes ]

Distribute the materials: SUPPLIES [1] Oil pastels PAPER [3] Paper towel, artist profile slip, and each student chooses one shade of brown construction paper

ORIENTATION [ 5 minutes ]

What did Bonheur love to paint? (ANIMALS) Did she paint realistic or abstract animals?

12 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

(REALISTIC) Today you will be making an animal portrait, as Rosa Bonheur liked to do. Bonheur was a master of studying the lines of animals right in her studio! In fact do you remember what animal she had for a pet? (A LION) The textures, colors, and detail in her work make the animals look real. She realistically created the texture of their fur. Today you will make a portrait of a cat, which can be a lioness, tiger or cheetah, or you can draw a lion using line and texture.

DEMONSTRATION AND ACTIVITY Have the students repeat each step immediately with their materials:

ORGANIZE YOUR WORK AREA [3 minutes] 1. Place your 9” x 9” brown construction paper in the center of your desk. [Demonstrate] 2. Set your Big Cat Line Drawing next to your paper. 3. Put the pencil and oil pastels to one corner of your desk. 4. Put the Learning Packet, paper towel, and artist profile slip to the other corner of your desk.

DRAWING THE BIG CAT [ 12 minutes ] (Demonstrate as you explain and refer to the line drawing, pointing out that a face is symmetrical, the same Brown on both sides. Have students trace each line of the Big Paper Cat Line Drawing with their finger before duplicating on their paper.)

1. Fold the brown construction paper in half. 2. Place the fold of the brown paper on the center dotted line of the Big Cat Line Drawing. Have the right-handed students place the brown paper on the 1 right side of the line drawing (shown right). Reverse for left handed students. 3. You will draw this half side of your big cat’s face on the brown construction paper. Have students trace line drawing lines with their fingers first. Notice curves, position, direction, and length of lines. 4. Choose an oil pastel color that contrasts to the construction paper. Example: peach oil pastel on dark brown paper; brown oil pastel on light brown paper. 5. On the brown construction paper, draw this half side of the big cat’s face creating a mirror image of each line of the Big Cat Line Drawing. 6. Using heavy pressure with the same color oil pastel,

go over each drawn line again. 7. Remove the line drawing and place in an upper corner of your desk. 8. Open the construction paper and refold it with the 8

13 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

drawing inside. 9. Use the side of a pencil and rub with very firm pressure for ten seconds on your desktop to transfer the oil pastel lines to the blank side of the construction paper. 10. Open the paper and go over the faint lines with the original oil pastel. 11. Refer to the Learning Packet to help choose a big cat to draw. Draw your big cat.

PRACTICE CREATING TEXTURE WITH OIL PASTELS [7 minutes] Demonstrate first, using the back of one of the Learning Pages or a scrap piece of paper. Use the flat bottom, or side of a paper-peeled oil pastel, to experiment with an overall soft texture. This technique will be used to create the undercoat of the big cat’s fur. Let students experiment with different textures to create the feel of fur with the soft use of oil pastels on their sides. Try some fine, thin detail lines like whiskers and fur edges using the tip of the oil pastel. Emphasize curved, quick lines.

CREATE TEXTURE WITH OIL PASTELS [20 minutes] For the final composition, have the students think about the colors in the big cat’s fur coat. On the brown paper, working from light to dark, begin adding color and texture to your big cat. The flat bottom or side of the oil pastel should be used to fill in the first layer of color. Encourage the blending of soft strokes of oil pastel and using the oil pastel in the direction of fur growth. Like human hair, fur is many colors. Original drawn lines should be covered with fur texture. Choose the eye and nose color. Finally, black may be used for fine, detail lines such as nose, mouth, whiskers, and eyes.

14 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition

ROSA BONHEUR – AGES 10 – ADULT | ONLINE EDITION

MOUNTING THE ARTIST PROFILE SLIP [2 minutes] (Profile slips for each artist are provided. They give a brief description of the artist, the technique, and the media used in the art activity. They should be mounted on the back of each art project after it is completed.) 1. Write your name on the front of the artist profile slip. 2. Using glue, mount the profile slip on the back of your artwork. 3. Encourage students to discuss their artwork at home using this artist slip of information.

CONCLUSION

Rosa Bonheur would be so proud of your realistic big cats! Let’s all stand up and share your artwork, holding your paper on your chest. Look around quietly. Do you see a large cat that might make you afraid? Do you see an animal who would be king of the jungle? An animal that would be a swift runner?

THIS CONCLUDES THE ROSA BONHEUR UNIT.

15 ROSA BONHEUR – Ages 10 – Adult | MeetTheMasters Online Edition