Rosa Bonheur the Amazon? Equestrianism, female masculinity, and The Horse Fair (1852–1855)

Abstract

In 1853, Rosa Bonheur first exhibited what would become her most widely celebrated work: The Horse Fair. Although the work’s modern setting and animal-focused subject matter do not obviously characterize it as an instance of classical reception, the artist claimed that it was inspired by the Parthenon frieze. A significant amount of feminist and queer scholarship has been dedicated to Rosa Bonheur’s life, career, and art practices, all of which reveal the complex ways in which the artist negotiated the gender norms of 19th-century France. These ranged from her decision never to marry, instead living in households with two women, to her officially sanctioned practice of cross-dressing when conducting art studies in public. In view of all these things, one of the most remarkable elements of The Horse Fair is the very probable inclusion of the artist’s self-portrait, clad in masculine clothing and riding with legs astride her mount. Taking seriously Bonheur’s Parthenonian quotation, how should her self-portrait within the male-dominated arena of the horse market be understood? The author argues that, by classical analogy, Bonheur may be regarded as a gender-bending Amazon of a sort that was radically distinct from the scores of so-called “amazones” promenading about Paris. A comparative consideration of contemporary visualizations of the Amazonian rider trope suggests that Bonheur appropriates and, as it were, refashions this modish, gendered imagery to make a bold statement of women’s equality with men.