Highlands Sheep; A finished study from the Highlands Series
c1855. Graphite and crayon with white heightening on tan-toned blueish wove paper, 12 1/4 x 19 3/8 inches (311 x 492 mm). Signed in pencil, lower right recto. The paper, while significantly toned, may have been chosen specifically by Bonheur, who understanding the natural aging process of the paper, often chose tan-toned sheets for her sketches to accentuate the white heightening she used to bring light and dimension to her compositions. Otherwise in excellent condition with the sheet edges adhered around the perimeter to a board (not laid down). The arrangement of the flock in this drawing mirrors the quiet, naturalistic dignity of her masterpiece oil from the same highly regarded series, The Sheep in the Highlands (1857), currently housed in the Wallace Collection, London. Both this finished study, and the closely related work The Sheep in the Highlands, were produced following Bonheur's influential trip to Scotland in 1855.
Regarding the provenance:
On the verso of the frame back is a lovely note of bequeathment from a mother to her daughter, mentioning that the drawing had come to her from a curious gentleman named Charles Hopton, "and his famous parrot, Loretta."
Rosa Bonheur (1822 – 1899) was the most celebrated female painter of the 19th century, renowned as an "animalière" (animal painter) for her monumental, anatomically precise canvases. A key figure in the Realist movement, she combined scientific observation with a grand scale traditionally reserved for historical or mythological subjects. Trained by her father, the painter Oscar-Raymond Bonheur, Rosa bypassed formal academies that excluded women by studying directly from nature. Her process was famously rigorous: she frequented horse markets and slaughterhouses, and even obtained a police permit to wear trousers to work undisturbed in these male-dominated spaces. Bonheur was a trailblazer for women's independence. She lived on her own terms at her estate, the Château de By, where she kept a private menagerie, including lions, stags, and cattle to serve as models.
Item number: 2458
Price: $10,000.00
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