With the stroke of her brush, French artist Rosa Bonheur forged a path for women and artists as a whole during the 19th century. Bonheur earned international fame as an animalier, or painter of animals; her most famous piece, "The Horse Fair," can be seen at metmuseum. She was the first woman to receive the French Legion of Honour and earned enough money from her art to be financially independent. She broke boundaries by participating in social freedoms normally reserved for men, like hunting, smoking, and wearing men's clothing (which she had to obtain a special permit for). Bonheur maintained close relationships with French painter Nathalie Micas and American painter Anna Klumpke, and her innovative spirit inspired them both as artists. Despite her unconventional lifestyle and France's exclusion of women from state-sponsored, formal artistic training, Bonheur was one of the most famous and commercially successful female painters of the 19th century. Her art and life are a shining ...