The Horse, Of Course

I got my comeuppance this week in Chautauqua, New York.  There by chance at an educational institute, I attended a lecture by the artist Stanley Lewis.  I expected he would talk about landscape painting because, after all, that’s his métier. Instead, he talked about horses as in the friezes at the Greek Parthenon. Those horses were exotic, expressive and sensual in their physicality and stature. The horses were so elegant in their demeanor, muscular in their stance, and carved to perfection with every veiny detail.

It made me reexamine why I balked a bit (not a pun) when Alan Reingold first suggested we do an exhibition on horses in art. For an artist, masterful as Alan is in drawing, it seemed to him an exciting project in tandem with the opening on September 11 of the American Gold Cup Equestrian Competition in North Salem, one of the most prestigious horse sporting events in the world of International Show Jumping and one that qualifies winners for the World Cup.  When I saw the images Alan had in mind as the curator of this show, my enthusiasm galloped (yes, a pun).  The horse has been the artists’ muse for centuries dating back to classical times. Shame on me for having a landscape artist set me straight about horses.  You will love our exhibition A Horse, Of Course, opening on September 13, and running through October 12.

Click here to learn more about the history of horses in art.

Image: Olivia Robertson, Untitled