Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/110

Rh cally perfect and handled with such virility as few men have excelled or even equalled. Her position as an artist is so established that no quoted opinions are needed when speaking of her—she was one of the most famous women of her century.

Her home at By was near Fontainebleau, where she lived quietly, and for some years held gratuitous classes for drawing. She left, at her death, a collection of pictures, studies, etchings, etc., which were sold by auction in Paris soon after.

Her "Ploughing in the Nivemais," 1848, is in the Luxembourg Gallery; "The Horse Fair," 1853, is seen in the National Gallery, London, in a replica, the original being in the United States, purchased by the late A. T. Stewart. Her "Hay Harvest in the Auvergne," 1855, is one of her most important works. After 1867 Mile. Bonheur did not exhibit at the Salon until 1899, a few weeks before her death.

One must pay a tribute to this artist as a good and generous woman. She founded the Free School of Design for Girls, and in 1849 took the direction of it and devoted much of her valuable time to its interests. How valuable an hour was to her we may understand when we remember that Hamerton says: "I have seen work of hers which, according to the price given, must have paid her a hundred pounds for each day's labor."

The story of her life is of great interest, and can be but slightly sketched here.

She was afoot betimes in the morning, and often walked ten or twelve miles and worked hard all day. The diffi-