she received when a mere child; having
been taught, from the very first, how to paint directly from a model,
she supplemented this training by a period of four years of copying
great masters. In the latter period she studied Paul Potter's work
rather slavishly, but was individual enough to combine only the best
in him with the best in herself; this gave her an originality such as
possibly no other animal painter ever possessed---not even Landseer,
who is said to be "stronger in telling the story than in the manner of
telling it."

Rosa Bonheur was too independent and original to follow any particular
school or master, for her only inspiration and guide were her models,
always living near by and upon intimate terms with her. Thus, in all
her paintings, we instinctively feel that she painted from conviction,
from her own observation, nothing being added for mere artistic
effect. To some extent her pictures impress one as a perfect French
poem in which there is no superfluous word, in which no word could
be changed without destroying the effect of the whole; thus, in her
paintings there is not a superfluous brush stroke; everything is
necessary to the telling of the story; but she excels the perfect
poem, for, in French literature, it seldom has a message distinct
from its technique, while her pictures breathe the very essence
of sympathy, love, and life. We feel that she thoroughly knew her
subjects as a connoisseur; but her animals do not impress one as the
production of an artist who knew them as do horse traders and cattle
dealers, who know their stock from the purely physical standpoint; the
animals of this artist are from the brush of one who was familiar with
their habits, who loved them, had lived with and studied them--who
knew and appreciated their higher qualities. Rosa Bonheur most
harmoniously united two essential elements in art--a scientific as
well as sympathetic conception of her subject. Possibly this is the
reason that her pictures appeal to animal lovers throughout the world.

As was stated, she was independent, hence kept aloof from the
corruptions of contemporary French art and its technique lovers,
always pursuing an even tenor in her art and never permitting one of
her pictures to leave her studio in a crude or unfinished state. In
all her long career she kept her original sketches, never parting with
one, in spite of the most tempting offers; and this explains the fact
that the work of her later