Throughout her life, Rosa Bonheur kept almost all of her sketches, thus constituting a “database”. These intimate creations - drawings, oils, watercolours, pastels, caricatures, comic strips - were sometimes notes that she took at random from her travels, sometimes preparatory studies for a particular painting, or even illustrations of great myths.

When he died in 1899, these hidden works were sold at auction, representing more than 4,700 works. In the months leading up to the sale, Anna Klumpke, "adopted daughter" and universal legatee of the artist, photographed them on glass plates in order to keep a record of them in the archives. Today, most of his works have disappeared leaving the only testimonies of their existence, these shots on glass plates discovered in the attics of the Château de Rosa Bonheur.

The exhibition presents a hundred unpublished works by Rosa Bonheur revealing the extent of her work. Fascinating for what they reveal about his technique, his creative process, the choice of his subjects and above all the little-known facets of his art such as scenes of chivalry, caricatures, illustrations of legends...

An exhibition in co-production with the Department of Seine-et-Marne.