The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 26, 2024

Return from the Horse Fair

Return from the Horse Fair

1873
(French, 1822–1899)
Sheet: 25.9 x 56.7 cm (10 3/16 x 22 5/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing is one of numerous sheets relating to a large-scale painting now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Description

Rosa Bonheur was the first woman artist to receive the Cross of the French Legion of Honor, a French civilian and military decoration. She achieved great official and commercial success, especially for her carefully finished and naturalistic paintings of animals. This watercolor displays Bonheur's technical mastery and her close study of anatomy, as well as her appreciation for the natural beauty of the horses. The animals are arranged in a shallow frieze across the long composition, and their manicured tails, along with the riders' costumes and the finely-wrought iron fence, identify them as stock from the historic national breeding stables.
  • 1940
    (Christie, Manson & Wood, London, June 28, 1940, no. 3, sold to Gooden and Fox, London)
    1940-?
    (Gooden and Fox, London)
    ?-1955
    Estate of Sir Jeremiah Colman [1859-1942], London
    1955
    (Christie, Manson, & Wood, London, Colman estate sale, Mar. 25, 1955, no. 2)
    ?-?
    Hentzl, sold to Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, New York
    ?-1976
    Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge [1882-1973], New York
    1976
    (Parke-Bernet, New York, May 14, 1976, no. 22, sold to the Shepherd Gallery)
    1976-1977
    (Shepherd Gallery, New York, sold to Muriel Butkin, Shaker Heights, OH)
    1977-2008
    Muriel Butkin [1916-2008], Shaker Heights, OH, by bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    2008-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Klumpke, Anna. Rosa Bonheur; sa vie, son œuvre. Paris: Flammarion, 1909. Reproduced: p. 283
    Christie, Manson & Woods, London. Ancient and Modern Pictures and Drawings. June 28, 1940. Lot 3. Mentioned: no. 3
    Christie, Manson, & Woods, London. Modern Pictures and Drawings, The Property of Sir Jeremiah Colman. Lot 2. Mentioned: no. 2
    Stanton, Theodore, ed. Reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1910. Reprint, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1976. Mentioned: p. xi
    Rohowsky, Peter S. French Nineteenth Century Drawings, Pastels, Watercolors. Exh. Cat. New York: Shepherd Gallery, 1977. Reproduced: no. 10
    Klumpke, Anna. Rosa Bonheur: The Artist's (Auto)Biography. Translated by Gretchen van Slyke. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997. Mentioned: p. 278
    Foster, Carter E., Sylvain Bellenger, and Patrick Shaw Cable. French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned: cat. no. 48, p. 106-107; Reproduced: p. 107
  • French Master Drawings from the Collection of Muriel Butkin. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001); Dahesh Museum of Art (February 19-May 18, 2002).
    French Nineteenth-Century Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolors. Shepherd Gallery, New York (November 1977-February 1978).
  • {{cite web|title=Return from the Horse Fair|url=false|author=Rosa Bonheur|year=1873|access-date=26 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.410