Auguste Bonheur (3 November 1824 in Bordeaux – 21 February 1884 in Bellevue, Seine-et-Oise) was a French painter of animals and

bucolic A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music ( pastorale) that depic ...

scenes in landscapes. In his compositions he was able to accurately depict the horizon, ambience, luminous settings and space. His works show the influence of the paintings of cattle by seventeenth-century Dutch painters such as

Aelbert Cuyp Aelbert Jacobszoon Cuyp () (20 October 1620 – 15 November 1691) was one of the leading Dutch Golden Age painters, producing mainly landscapes. The most famous of a family of painters, the pupil of his father Jacob Gerritszoon Cuyp (1594–1651 ...

and

Paulus Potter Paulus Potter (; 20 November 1625 (baptised) – 17 January 1654 (buried)) was a Dutch painter who specialized in animals within landscapes, usually with a low vantage point. Before Potter died of tuberculosis at the age of 28 he succeeded in ...

. During his lifetime Bonheur's works were compared to those of his more successful older sister, the renowned animal painter

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include ''Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fir ...

. This is believed to have had a negative effect on his career. Nevertheless, Bonheur's paintings enjoyed popularity among British art collectors. In the Netherlands, the uncle of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

, an art dealer also called Vincent van Gogh, owned one of his paintings.... in view of the affinity of Bonheur's work to Dutch seventeenth-century cattle painting, his works were also collected in the Netherlands. The art dealer Vincent van Gogh, uncle of the famous painter, owned ''Le retour du marché'' (present whereabouts unknown). It was sold at an auction of his collection held in the building of the Artists' Association "Pulchri Studio" in The Hague on April 2 and 3, 1889

Life

Auguste Bonheur was the younger brother of the renowned painter

and older brother of the

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

sculptor

Isidore Bonheur Isidore Jules Bonheur (Bordeaux 15 May 1827 – 10 November 1901 Paris), best known as one of the 19th century's most distinguished French animalier sculptors. Bonheur began his career as an artist working with his elder sister Rosa Bonheur in ...

. Auguste was the first son of the painter Oscar-Raymond Bonheur (1796–1849) and Christine Dorotheé Sophie Marquis (1797–1833). His mother died a year after the birth of her last child. Raymond Bonheur remarried and moved to Paris in 1829. His sister,

Juliette Bonheur Juliette Peyrol Bonheur (1830–1891) was a French painter. She was known for her animal paintings. She is the sister of Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899), Auguste Bonheur (1824–1884), and Isidore Bonheur (1827–1901).Galton, Francis. ...

, born in 1830, also became a painter, and married the artist Auguste François Hippolyte Peyrol in 1852. The Bonheur family lived in

Magny-les-Hameaux Magny-les-Hameaux () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Population Education There are four preschools: Ecole Francis Jammes, Ecole André Gide, Ecole Petit Prince, and Ecole Jean Ba ...

in the department of

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.École des Beaux-Arts de Paris The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles ...

in 1848 in the studio of

Paul Delaroche Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche (17 July 1797 – 4 November 1856) was a French painter who achieved his greater successes painting historical scenes. He became famous in Europe for his melodramatic depictions that often portrayed subjects from English ...

. Like his sister Rosa, he became a ''peintre animalier''. Bonheur preferred the traditional and detailed painting style and received his education at his father's

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or ...

. Bonheur exhibited at the Salon of 1845. In 1852 he won a third-class medal for his landscapes ''Côtes de Brageac (Cantal)'' and ''Environs of Mauriac (Cantal)'', and a first-class medal in 1861. In the 1860s he made a trip to Scotland. His ''Highland Scene with Cattle'' in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

of 1863 depicts the scenery of the Scottish lochs. Bonheur married and had a son named Raymond, who became a music composer and a close friend of

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

and confidant of Claude Debussy. In 1856 Bonheur's painting ''Mountain Scenery in the Auvergne: Early Morn'' was shown in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

as part of an exhibition of French painting, along with other works by Auguste and Rosa. This may be the same painting as ''The Ruins of the Château d’Apchon'', exhibited at the Salon in 1853, and purchased by the French minister of the interior on the advice of Rosa. The minister's painting was bought in 1868 by George Holt of Sudley House under the title ''Landscape, Auvergne'', and is still on display there. Auguste Bonheur was appointed a Knight of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in 1867. Bonheur's ''La Sortie du pâturage'', which is in size, was painted in 1861 and exhibited in the Salon the same year along with his ''L'Arrivée à la foire, Auvergne'' (Coming to the Market, Auvergne) and ''Rencontre de deux troupeaux dans les Pyrénées'' (Encounter of Two Herds in the Pyrenees). The ''Sortie'' was awarded a first-class medal, and as a result was included as a prize in a lottery run by the French government to promote the ownership of modern art. It was won by Leblois, an employee of the

Chemins de fer de l'Est The Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est (CF de l'Est), often referred to simply as the Est company, was an early French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which ...

. The painting, together with Auguste's '' Le Combat, souvenir des Pyrénées'', later passed into the ownership of Sir Edward Bates at

Gyrn Castle Gyrn Castle is a Grade II-listed castellated mansion in Llanasa in Flintshire. History It was built between 1817 and 1824 by John Douglas, who incorporated parts of a previous house on the Gyrn estate, dating to the late 17th century, on a site ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

. The poet and art critic

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...

visited the Salon of 1861 and noted Auguste Bonheur's three paintings. Writing in '' Abécédaire du Salon de 1861'', Gautier noted the similarity of style between Bonheur and Rosa, although Auguste's landscape settings were stronger and purer in colour, giving an impression of luminous sunshine. On balance, Gautier favoured the paintings of Rosa Bonheur for their stronger brushwork. File:Bonheur way-to-market.jpg, ''La Sortie du pâturage'' (The Return from the Pasture), 1861. Oil on canvas. File:Auguste Bonheur - La Corrida.jpg, ''Le Combat, souvenir des Pyrénées'' File:Auguste Bonheur - Chef de la harde.jpg, ''The chief of the herd'' File:Auguste Bonheur - Les ruines du château d'Apchon.jpg, ''The Ruins of the Château d’Apchon'' File:Auguste Bonheur - Du bétail par un lac.jpg, ''Pasture beside the lake'' File:Auguste Bonheur - Paturage en Auvergne.jpg, ''Scenery in the Auvergne: Early Morn '' File:Auguste bonheur a3274 plowing in the nivernais.jpg, ''Plowing in the Nivernais'' File:Auguste et Rosa Bonheur - bovins sur une colline.jpg, Auguste and Rosa Bonheur - ''Bovins sur une colline''

References

External links

*
Auguste Bonheur, Joconde, Portail des collections des musées de France, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonheur, Auguste École des Beaux-Arts alumni 19th-century French painters French male painters Recipients of the Legion of Honour 1824 births 1884 deaths Painters from Paris Artists from Bordeaux Sibling artists 19th-century French male artists