A Maltese - Rosa Bonheur

Throughout her career, Rosa Bonheur defied the artistic conventions of her time by granting animals a dignity usually reserved for human portraiture. "A Maltese," one of her less documented yet equally revealing works, reflects her ability to capture the personality and expression of dogs with a level of detail that transcends the merely decorative. In this painting, a long-haired, silky-coated Maltese dog is depicted with an alert gaze and a serene posture, evoking the image of an animal that is both ornamental and intelligent.

Bonheur was interested not only in the faithful depiction of animal anatomy, but also in its character. This painting fits within Realism, a movement that Bonheur brought to the field of animal painting with a scientific meticulousness inherited from the academic tradition. However, while the Romanticism that preceded her idealized nature, Bonheur chose direct observation, the result of her constant studies on farms and in zoos.

The sale of A Maltese at Christie’s, one of England’s most prestigious auction houses, demonstrates how Bonheur’s work was not only valued in her own time, but continues to be highly sought after in the art market. Her dog portraits influenced later animal representation, alongside the detailed studies of Edwin Landseer and up to the elegance with which Impressionism would approach animal figures in the work of artists like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.