Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-13
Rosa BOnheur.

THE parrot and the child were playing
school. The bird was the teacher
and little Rosa was the pupil. a. said
the parrot, but no answer came. An
other a. little louder and the girl
repeated "a 3D." was the teachers
next effort. and then &C. and so on I'M
til the talking bird had finished the al
phabet lesson for the morning. Then
Rosa was happy to have plenty of time
to pet her pretty polly. The little girl
was often very lonesome, for her mother
had died, her brothers were at school
and her father was busy all the day
painting pictures or trying to sell some
of his work to buy food and clothing for
his children. The Bonheurs were living
in the great city of Paris, where the
family had only a few rooms high up
in the sixth story of an apartment house.
The children missed their pet lamb that
they had left in the small town where
they had once lived. Opposite their home
there was butcher shop, which lad a
painted wooden pig in front of it for
sign to show that meat was sold in the
store. When little Rosa felt very lone
some she would run across to the wood
en- animal, throw her little arms round
you think the little girl must have loved
animals? Later on the Bonheur children
kept a pretty fieecy lamb upon the roof
of their home. The lofty garden, with its
pretty flowers planted by Rosa, was a
pleasant place. All morning long the
lamb stayed the roof garden, but
every afternoon Rosa's brother would
take the pet down to the ground to nib
BILE the fresh grass. Then he would
~tx-
its home.
AS Rosa grew older she liked more and
more to play at painting pictures of her
pets. She even painted the hares and
squirrels as she remembered seeing them
in her old home at Bordeaux. Her father
sent her to school, but she would not
study, for she spent her time drawing on
the margins of her books. Then the
girl was put to learn trade. but Rosa
would not work. At last her father said
she should draw in the. studio with him.
This was just what Rosa wanted She
would work so earnestly at drawing that
she forgot about everything else around
her. At first she copied paintings, but
after a while she realized that to be a
great painter she should draw pictures
from real things She painted beau
tiful scene and then few other sub
jects. but they did not interest her very
much. Then she painted her pet goat.
That picture was so fine that even her
father said it was good.
After this Rosa walked several miles
into the country every day to paint
animals and to watch them. She loved
to work SO much that often she forgot to
eat her lunch of dry bread which she car
ried with her BY close watching and
hard work the artist began making pic
lures which were considered fine that
some were bought and hung in the finest
art galleries in Europe. All of Rosa Bon
hours paintings were of animals, SO she
spent most of her life in the woods, in
the stock yards or on farms. AT home the
artist had so many pets that her garden
was like zoo. She had even pet lion.
If you have seen a copy of her beauti-
full large picture THE Flowing Oxen"
you know how the artist watched and
studied animals. Rosa Bonheur's most
famous painting, The Horse Fair took
a year and half to paint. Many peo-
pie sent their finest horses to her SO
that she might paint them in the picture.
Buffalo Bill presented Rosa Bonheur with
two fine mustangs SO that she might use
them as models This picture now hangs
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York city. 1t cost 100000 Rosa Bon
heur was given the highest honor that
French people could bestow. The 'empress
pinned a little white cross on her, which
made the artist member of the Legion
of Honor.