The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur, oil on canvas 1853-1855

“The nineteenth century brought more women artists into the light of recognition, but they were still greatly limited in the larger world of art.  The home and café society became subjects for contemporary art.  As they composed the woman’s world as dictated by a patriarchal society, the female perspective on these subjects was acceptable to society.  Even so, women artists were not readily accepted into the world of professional and great art.  Rosa Bonheur (1822 – 1899), one of the greatest animal painters of the 19th Century, had to pose as a man in order to accomplish this feat.”

— Jeanie Schultz in her essay “Women, Art, and Gender: A History.”