Her father then sent her to a dressmaker to see if she could learn that trade, but Rosa did not like dressmaking and finally went home without having learned very much. Then some friends gave her some photographs to color. This she liked to do, so her father decided that the only thing to do was to let her paint.
Rosa was willing to walk miles in all kinds of weather, to sit hours in all kinds of uncomfortable positions, and to go without food in order to draw a good picture of some animal. Now she began her study of animals in earnest. She went to all the country horse fairs, to the slaughter houses, and wherever there was an opportunity to study them.
Rosa never had very pretty clothes. She tells us herself that one day a parrot called after her "Ha, ha! That hat!" Now that she was grown up she found she could not get about very easily in her long skirts. There were so many rough men in the packing houses and in other places where she must go to study that she obtained a permit to wear men's clothing. Her hair was short, anyway, and with her blue working blouse and dark trousers she looked just like a man. Then no one noticed her as she went about, for they thought her one of the workmen. People who knew her did not mind her dress, and were ready to help her as much as they could in her work. The first picture she exhibited was of some little rabbits nibbling carrots.
Her pictures became famous the world over. From all over the country she received gifts of fine horses and other animals to paint. Buffalo Bill once sent her two fine horses from Texas. She bought a farm, and had a very large barn built where she could keep her animals.
How proud her father was of her!
One day she was working hard in her studio when a servant came to tell her that the Empress Eugénie had come to see her. It was a great event when this royal lady came to the artist's studio; and there was Rosa dressed in her old blue blouse covered with paint! She did not have time even to slip it off before the empress came in, but they had a most delightful visit. As the Empress Eugénie bent over and kissed Rosa Bonheur, she pinned the Cross of the Legion of Honor on the artist's blue blouse. Rosa did not notice it until after the Empress was gone. How pleased she must have been, for she was the first woman to receive that honor.
Questions about the artist. What is the artist's full name? Where did she live the first ten years of her life? What did the father do for a living? Why did they move to the city? How did the children like this change? In what kind of a house did they live? Tell about Rosa and the wild boar; the school for boys. Why did they move? What became of the children after their mother died? Why was Rosa often late to school? Who came to take her home? Tell about the new home and the pets; Isidore and the lamb. How did they all spend their evenings? Tell about the "Saint Simon" bonnet. How did Rosa behave at the private school? Tell about Rosa and the hollyhocks. How was she punished? What trade did her father wish her to learn? What was she willing to do in order to paint pictures? Where did she go to study animals? How did she dress? Why did she dress like a man? What presents did she receive? Where did she keep them? Tell about the visit of the Empress Eugénie. How did she honor Rosa Bonheur?