Sex: m
Artist occupation: sculptor; painter
Geographical data: France
State: France
Date of birth: 1827.05.15
Place of birth: Bordeaux
Date of death: 1901
Place(s) cited: Paris
Book location: AKL XII, 1996, 537
Isidore Jules Bonheur
Isidore Jules Bonheur was born on May 15, 1827, the third
child of Raymond Bonheur and brother of Rosa Bonheur the
famous sculptor and painter. Like the other members of
his family he showed great aptitude for drawing and modeling
from an early age and was taught by his father.
Bonheur made his debut at the Salon in 1848 with his
African Horseman attacked by a Lion and enrolled in the
Salon des Beaux-Arts in 1849. He won medals in 1865 and
1869 and won the coveted Gold Medal at the Exposition
Universelle of 1889. He was awarded Legion d'Honneur in
1895.
The two lions crouched in stone which flank the stairs
of the Palais de Justice in Paris are reminders of the
power and realism of Bonheur. He excelled in realistically
capturing the attitudes and spontaneous movements of animals
and mankind - a mare caressing her colt, a lion playing
with it's young, a polo player.
The founder Hippolyte Peyrol, who married Isidore's younger
sister Juliette Bonheur, cast the majority of his works
and these bronzes are of exceptionally fine quality.
Bonheur's specialization in small figures and animal
groups led him to become part of the animal sculptors
of the late 19th Century known as 'Les Animaliers'. Although
his studies of other animals are of a very high quality
he will always be revered for his studies of the horse,
which capture the quintessential spirit of the animal
combined with an almost 'humanized' characteristic.
WORKS
FONTAINEBLEAU: Mon. à Rosa Bonheur 1901. - Mus.
Nat. du Château. PARIS, Mus. d'Orsay. - Pal. de
Justice. PERIGUEUX, Mus. WARSCHAU, Muz. Narodowe
EXHIBITIONS
Paris: 1848-99 Salon; 1855, '89 Welt-Ausst.; 1883 Expos.
Nat. / 1875, '76 London, RA / 1973 Lausanne, Gal. des
arts décoratifs: Les animaliers du 19e s.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ThB IV, 1910. Bellier/Auvray I, 1882; Suppliment., 1887;
Graves, RA I, 1905; DictNatContemp I, 1906; Graves, LE
II, 1913; Lami I, 1914; Grant, Sculptors, 1953; DBF VI,
1954; Bénézit II, 1976; Mackay, 1977; Kjellberg,
1987. - L.Dussieux, Les artistes franç. à
l'étranger, P. 1876, 388; J.Horswell, Bronze sculpt.
of "Les animaliers", Clopton 1971, 201-216,
310, 333 s.; J.Mackay, The animaliers, Lo. 1973, 7, 46
s., 54 s., 145 s.; Schurr III, 1976; Renard, 1985, 265.
- Mitt. L.Salvagnini, Antela.
