Google Doodle Honours French Painter Rosa Bonheur on Her 200th Birth Anniversary

Google Doodle Celebrates 200th birth anniversary of Rosa Bonheur.

(Photo: Google)

Google Doodle on Wednesday, 16 March, is celebrating the birth anniversary of French painter Rosa Bonheur.

"Today’s Doodle celebrates the 200th birthday of French painter Rosa Bonheur, whose successful career inspired a future generation of women in the arts," reads the official Google Doodle blog.

To celebrate the day, Google has upload a doodle of Rosa Bonheur working on a painting of flock of sheep, on its homepage.

Who Was Rosa Bonheur?

Rosa Bonheur was born on 16 March 1822 in Bordeaux, France. Her father, who was a landscape painter, helped Rosa in her early artistic education.

Her aspirations as an artist were considered unconventional for women of the time.

With her work, she earned a reputation as an animal painter, which further grew in the 1840s, with many of her works exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon from 1841 to 1853.

"Scholars believe an 1849 exhibition of “Plowing in Nivernais,” a government commission that is now housed in France’s Musée Nationale du Château de Fontainebleau, established her as a professional artist," the blog added.

Her work went international with her painting 'The Horse Fair' in the year 1853. It depicted the horse market held in Paris, and is now housed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

French Empress Eugénie awarded Bonheur the Legion of Honor – one of the nation’s most prestigious awards, in 1865, for 'The Horse Fair' painting.