Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011074About the Artwork
This drawing was among many representing stags that were discovered in Rosa Bonheur’s studio after her death. One of the few women of her time who was given the support needed for an artistic career, Bonheur became famous during her lifetime for naturalistic portrayals of animals. Daily carriage rides through the forest around her home enabled her to sketch from nature. One such outing inspired Cleveland’s drawing: Bonheur’s companion recalled “a stag . . . with the sun playing on him through the leaves . . . [who] remained perfectly still.” Watercolor was ideal for such improvisatory studies, allowing Bonheur to work outdoors alongside the subjects she treasured.
Inscriptions
stamped, in black ink, at lower right: artist's estate stamp [Lugt 274]
Provenance
c. 1860-1899: studio of the artist [1822-1899] 1900: (her sale, Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, June 5-8, 1900, no. 934) (Gerald Norman Gallery, London, sold to Shepherd Gallery, New York) ?-1977: (Shepherd Gallery, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH) 1977-: Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1977. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1977-January 22, 1978). French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Nineteenth-Century French Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 20-June 11, 2023).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Rosa Bonheur (French, 1822–1899)
- Date
- c. 1875–85
- Medium
- watercolor and gouache over graphite on cream wove paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 28 x 38.1 cm (11 x 15 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- James Parmelee Fund
- Accession no.
- 1977.3
More by Rosa Bonheur in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011074
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