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In the Eighteenth Century in England, horse art flourished. Having begun in
the 17th century, the 18th saw the formation of a school animal and sporting
art. This was also the century in which the Thoroughbred horse was perfected
as a breed.
After England's break with the Roman Church, church patronage of the arts
halted but artists did not stop creating art work. The subjects artists
pursued were portraits of the wealthy, royalty included, and the things
these patrons owned, like estate houses, pets and horses. In the 1700's and
the early Eighteenth Century, artists began to paint the wealthy or
their possessions, one of which was their horses.
The sports of horse racing and fox hunting created a demand that artists
scrambled to fill. Patrons were looking for accurate portraits of their
prized horses. John Wootton (late 1600's to mid 1700's), James Seymour
(1702-1752) were two painters who were quick to follow the new trend of
horse art. |
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Horse Art Areas and Times:
Art Bio of Sculptor Patricia Crane
Four Decades of Horse Art by Patricia Crane
Horse Art History Main Page
Horse Art in Ancient Civilizations
Early Oriental Horse Art
Horse Art in Medieval Times
Renaissance Horse Art
Horse Art and the Baroque Age
Horse Art Nineteenth Century
Illustrations of 18th Century Horse Art:
Pieter Tillemans art (1684-1734) Horse with Groom
John Wootton art (1682-1764) Bay Horse
James Seymour(1702 -1752)
Horse Art of George Stubbs (1724-1806)
Stubbs portrait of the horse Whistlejacket
Horse Anatomy - George Stubbs
Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807)
Rowlandson caricature
Jacques-Laurent Agasse (1767-1849) |
In many ways Seymour’s horse art epitomizes the style of English sporting
horse painting of the period. In a few of Seymour’s compositional works it
is possible to see in rather primitive form, echoes of the earlier
perspective devices of Uccello ( see the Renaissance Horse Art page).Wootton was popular as a painter of racehorses andwas probably the first
distinguished horse artist, or sporting artist ;his subject matter included
the early Newmarket course. Newmarket was the scene of many horse portraits
throughout the century and was the headquarter of the Jockey Club. Painting
often for George II and the Prince of Wales, he was also closely associated
with the Royal Academy, being a founding member.
However the most outstanding painter of the new genre of horse art was
George Stubbs (1724-1806), whose lovely depictions of the horse are still
very highly valued today in both museums and private collections.
George Stubbs certainly knew the anatomy of a horse, from life, from
dissection and from dedication. His book of anatomy compiled in the course
of eight years of study and drawing was finally published in 1766 was the
first book dealing with equine anatomy since 1598. These anatomical drawings
are still a valued resource for horse art today.
The number of horse paintings produced by this artist is large, and he owned
the talent to paint large scale also. His talent and his knowledge of horses
even allowed the successful and successfully received painting of horses
without backgrounds, which allowed the entire focus to be on the horse.
These compositions are very balanced, with horses in very natural postures,
like a frieze of horses across the canvas. The generosity of George Stubbs
and his sharing of knowledge, gave a vitality to the horse art of his
century that has continued to make of him and his work a model for the horse
artists of today. His graceful, anatomically correct and powerful
portraits of individual horses captured the personality and uniqueness of
each horse.
In the Eighteenth century, horse art flourished, yet it was also considered
second class art since horses were seen as humble objects rather than
elevated objects. Horse artists were referred to as animal painters and
their talents were not fully recognized.
George Garrard, John Boultbee and Abraham Cooper painted in a manner that
tried to follow Stubbs, but they certainly could not match his level of
talent. The closest was perhaps the lesser known Jacques-Laurent Agasse
(1767-1849), who although Swiss studied under the French master
Jacques-Louis David. Agasse produced many works of horse art in England in
the late 18th century and his works portrayed a certain charm and “feel” of
the horse.
Thomas Gooch in the mid to late 18th century painted the popular carriage
horses, wearing very stylish harness, for various patrons wanting such work.
Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807) whose father and brother were both amateur
artists, liked to paint large scale horse art and introduced a romantic
aspect , using dramatic light and shadow, which was supremely captured in
the next century by the work of Gericault.
Thomas Rowandson(1756-1827) , by choice more of a drawer than painter, loved
drawing horses and along with more serious works also produced caricatures
depicting the antics of riders and horses, as did Henry Bunbury.
Rowlandson produced many work depicting the varied type of carriages on the
roads of England and Europe during this period and into the 19th century
which was to see an incredible improvement in carriages, along with the
better road surfaces, and the popularity of the Cleveland Bay horse.
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