Drive 75 km from Paris or, at the moment, take instead the R line of the Transilien to Thomery, this line for hikers between Bois-le-Roi, Fontainebleau and Moret, in the heart of the forest, south of the Seine- et-Marne, and walk from the train station to Château Rosa Bonheur, about fifteen minutes away.
A very important place where the artist settled in 1859 with his friend and assistant Nathalie Micas, renamed by them “Domaine de la Parfaite Amitié”.
In 1899, on the death of Rosa Bonheur ten years after that of her friend, it was the American Anna Klumpke (1856-1942), companion of her last years, her biographer and herself a painter, who inherited the château and transmitted his memory.
Phébus editions are also republishing "Memories of my life", fragments of an existence collected by Anna Klumpke on her famous friend.
Château de Rosa Bonheur, May 1900.
Departure of Rosa Bonheur's works from the gallery owner Georges Petit, a key figure in the art market at the time, with a view to their sale.
The artist's photographic laboratory, undoubtedly one of the oldest in the world
Today the estate, owned by Katherine Brault, who has done a lot to bring Rosa Bonheur out of oblivion – she collaborated in the exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay and signs a text for the catalog – also presents a complementary exhibition there. , “Rosa Intimate Happiness”.
We discover his photographic laboratory, undoubtedly one of the oldest in the world, a small room at the back of his studio.
The attics of the castle have recently allowed rediscoveries, such as sketches, notebooks, letters, and even animal hair, from the lioness Fatma who lived in this incredible ecosystem with goats and yaks.
The castle and the artist's studio have been open to visitors since 2018. With this exhibition in their own home, the public will also have access to preparatory studies illustrating the creative process.
Orsay also presents them, but Rosa Bonheur's animal castle was her Giverny.
Château de Rosa Bonheur
in By-Thomery (Seine-et-Marne).
Exhibition from September 21 to January 30.
Compulsory guided tours with reservation. 10-17 euros.