Son of Raymond Bonheur and younger brother of the acclaimed animal painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899), Isidore Jules Bonheur first studied painting with his father and then at the École des Beaux-Arts. At first he both painted and sculpted, and he sent to his first Paris Salon in 1848 a painting and sculpture on the same subject, African Horseman Attacked by a Lioness. Later he devoted himself to sculpture and continued to exhibit at the Paris Salon until 1899, winning a medal in 1899. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur in 1895. One of his works was exhibited in 2001 at the exhibition held at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Bordeaux Autour de Barye et Pompon: Sculptures animals des XIXe et XXe siecles.

He sculpted the stone lions that ornament the stairway of the Palais de Justice, Place Dauphine, Paris, and the monument in memory of Rosa Bonheur in Fontainbleau, among other works. His works can be found in museums in Bordeaux and Perigueux.

Source: Benezit, E., Dictionary of Artists, Vol.2, p.802