A Storm of Horses: The Story of Artist Rosa Bonheur by Ruth Sanderson (2022) is the story of how a female artist in the 1800s created a famous painting, called The Horse Fair (1853-1855). This painting hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is a huge canvas at 8 feet tall by 16 1/2 feet wide. This book story highlights both Rosa Bonheur’s unusual lifestyle and her artistic education. However, this resource focuses on Bonheur’s artistic journey. The purpose of this lesson is to show that The Horse Fair was the result of many years of thoughtful study. Ruth Sanderson’s illustrations are themselves beautiful paintings.
At the end of the story are four pages of additional information about Rosa Bonheur, an Author’s Note, Recommended Drawings Books, Sources, Image Credits, and locations around the world to view works by Bonheur. There are many online videos and resources about Rosa Bonheur.
My Picture Book Talk worksheet for this story is here.
