Hotwalking?

It is my observation that a painter always enjoys a conflict between logic and his instincts, and with me instinct always wins - Vaughn Flannaery

Not sure where I first saw any of his paintings, except it has only been on line, but really enjoy his style and his take on the theme of horses and racing. His paintings seem to be of the behind the scenes motifs.

He did advertising in the '20's and this shows in his sense of design and composition, was a director of the Maryland Jockey Club and moved to Harford County, MD from NYC in the early '30's.

I haven't been able to find the name of this panting so until I can, it Hotwalking. Could be a horse going to the sale ring, or just back to the barn. I like the color notes made along the bottom.

Sketch for Cowboys in the Badlands

Enthusiasm for one's goal lessens the disagreeableness of working toward it - Thomas Eakins

For awhile Eakins thought to pursue paintings of the western cowboy, spending time in the Dakota Territories. At some time he realized his was a more introspective style, not the same as say Remington's. Back east he literally drew from his collection of photographs which documented the cowboy more at rest. He even brought home two cow horses feeling that the wrong kind of horse would be a glaring error depicting the cowboy life. Outside of sketches and Cowboys of the Badlands, Eakins did not continue this genre. Although one of the horses, gray Billy, figured in many of Eakins photos, sketches, etc.

Race Horses before the Stands

I feel as a horse must feel when the beautiful cup is given to the jockey. - Edgar Degas

This painting has a wonderful sense of space and air. You can almost feel the sun as it washes a late afternoon light across all. The use of negative space is nice, all that blank track in the middle of the painting broken by slanting shadows and the one jockey & horse. The slight tilt of the jock's head, glancing at the crowd, is a nice touch.

Degas used the horse, and racing in particular, as a frequent motif. Like his dancer paintings, his interest lay more in the time that surrounds "the big moment". Here the time before the race, the jocks are settling themselves and their horses, saving their energy.

Bolting Horse

To be able to translate the customs, ideas and appearance of my times as I see them – in a word, to create a living art – this has been my aim. - Gustave Courbet

Courbet was part of a movement called "the Realists". This could seemed odd to all of us living in this time of say abstract art but his take on realist painting was more a social one. He painted what he saw, he knew, tenets I strive to do. He painted the so-called ordinary as he would any subject without the sentimentality that such genre paintings usually possess.

Sale at Tattersals

"paint what really interests you and look around and see the beauty of everyday things" - Sickert to Bevan

Not sure where I first saw his work online but enjoy his use of line and color and his compositions depicting the end of an era. Even while he working at his easel on these horse paintings, beneath the windows of his studio, the horse was giving way to the auto and the markets and fairs painted by so many artists in the past were disappearing.

Belle and the Blacksmith

An artist chooses his subjects: that is the way he praises. - Friedrich Nietzsche

Will amend something I said in the last post: it is entirely possible that the an animal shown was not a favorite! The Belle in this painting was an ex-race horse/broodmare that my husband wanted to play polo. Temperamentally these two were not a match and Belle went off to become coddled by a little girl. This is not an elaborate composition, I wanted to keep the tone subdued, it is a quiet moment that could happen around any stable, any where.

Portrait of Frederick Samuel Audeoud Fazy

He is well in with all the grooms, horse dealers, horse fanciers and all these people look upon him as a real expert” –AW Topffer

One of the things I admire most about Agasse's paintings are these more introspective portraits of his patrons with their favorite animals at the time placed in a space, a landscape that undoubtedly meant much to the person. It is a candid view to which we are perhaps a bit jaded from familiarity with cameras but perhaps seemed more intimate and fresh than a more formal mounted pose to his contemporaries.

The Huntsman

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see - Degas

Of course I looked to the painting of Ned on the grey tick for this painting of a huntsman I did whip for. For several years I was happy to have this hanging over the mantle in a few of our houses. It sold a few years ago and remains one of my favorite paintings that I have done.

Ned Osbourne on the Grey Tick

What are pictures for? To fill a man's soul with admiration and sheer joy, not to bewilder and daze him - Sir Alfred James Munnings

Years ago friends sent me a card with this image on it which I loved. I had seen Munnings work before and or course am swept away by his work, his horses, his figures, his landscapes, his ability to capture the mood of horse sports.

Sketch of a Bay Horse

One of the uncontestable masters of our epoch, all of us will be forgotten, but Meissonier will be remembered.-Eugène Delacroix, Painter and Friend of Meissonier

Another one of my icons of painting horses. He was known for his paintings of war, Napoleon's in fact, but is his sketches that I find incredible. I just found this image this evening, and love the way he handled paint, used the wood panel and so new the anatomy of a moving horse.

WhistleJacket

Stubbs gave animals “the beauty, strength, and dignity ordinarily reserved for the human figure” - Frick catalogue

This is a splendid portrait, which hung at the Walters in Baltimore for a special exhibit a few years ago. Seeing so many of his works all in one place was a treat. I was very pleased to be able to stand in front of it, gazing up at this wonderful painting, recognizable to most anyone who loves horses. It's size is almost overwhelming, even in the fairly large gallery where I saw it hanging. This was painted in 1762 when Stubbs was 38 and leaving the horse on the plain background a bold choice away from the more typical views including real estate dear to the patron. Actually Stubbs was great at that, too.

Whistlejacket was the grandson of the Godolphin Arabian through his top line and the Byerly Turk on the bottom. He had a fine racing career and no doubt, also in the breeding shed.