Paysage

1833

Death of her mother, Sophie Bonheur

When Rosa was eleven, her mother, the piano teacher Sophie Bonheur (née Marquis), died. It was she who had taught her daughter to read by asking her to draw an animal for each letter of the alphabet — lessons to which the artist credited her love of drawing animals.

1837

Meets Nathalie Micas

Rosa met twelve-year-old Nathalie Micas; they would live together for over forty years, until Nathalie's death, with Micas running the home while Bonheur earned their living by painting.

1853

“The Horse Fair” at the Salon

Begun in 1851, the huge canvas (2.4 × 4.9 m) of the horse market on the boulevard de l'Hôpital sparked debate among critics and collectors at the Salon and brought Bonheur into the international art world; she herself refuted the Comte de Nieuwerkerke's hint that it was a state commission.

1859

Moves to the Château de By near Fontainebleau

Her success allowed Bonheur to settle at the Château de By, where she lived for the rest of her life; Jules Saulnier designed a large studio and an enclosure there for bulls, horses, mouflons, deer, boars and rams — her models.

24 June 1889

Death of Nathalie Micas

Nathalie Micas, Bonheur's companion of more than forty years, died; the artist would later be buried with her at Père Lachaise.