La Plaine Et Les Champs 

Rosa Bonheur painted ‘La Plaine Et Les Champs’ as an intimate glimpse into the French countryside. Bonheur was a key figure in 19th-century Realism, a movement that rejected Romanticism's idealised depictions of nature for more objective representations of contemporary life. As a woman artist in 19th-century France, Bonheur challenged societal norms and expectations through her art and her lifestyle. She gained recognition for her remarkable animal paintings, a genre considered less prestigious than history painting, which allowed her to bypass some of the gendered restrictions of the art world. In painting the rural landscape she shows a connection to the land. She lived in the countryside and was known for wearing trousers and smoking cigarettes, actions that defied conventional gender roles. Historical research into Bonheur's life and work reveals the institutional barriers she overcame and the ways in which she used her art to express her unique perspective on the world. Her work makes us consider the meaning of art as being contingent on social and institutional context.