Rosa Bonheur (1)
Rosa Bonheur was a 19th-century French artist who absolutely broke the mold—paintbrush in one hand, cigarette in the other, and probably petting a lion with the third (if she’d had one). Born in 1822, Bonheur became one of the most celebrated animal painters of her time, and she didn’t just paint farm animals—she studied them up close, often visiting slaughterhouses and spending days in the fields observing every muscle and movement. Her most famous painting, The Horse Fair, is a sweeping, dynamic masterpiece that gallops right off the canvas and into art history.
But Rosa wasn’t just ahead of her time artistically—she was a full-on trailblazer in life, too. She wore pants long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so (she even had to get police permission!), and she lived openly with her partner Nathalie Micas for over 40 years. Bonheur refused to follow the rules, and instead carved out a wildly successful career on her own terms, earning international fame and even receiving the French Legion of Honor—the first woman to do so for her art. Rosa didn’t just paint power—she was power, wrapped in paint-streaked smocks and a love for the wild.
