Yesterday afternoon I paid a visit to Gallery P27, currently home to the exhibition Animalia: 19th and 20th Century European Prints and Drawings. While viewing the images of colorfully plumed birds and fantastic beasts, I was struck by the number of prints, six out of the 14 to be exact, that feature horses. Not that I’m surprised. I had a bit of an equine obsession myself as a child. Horse-themed sketches filled my room, a collection of lifelike models lined the shelves and many an afternoon was spent riding Cocoa, my beloved black Quarter Horse, around the family farm.
So, what is it then about the horse that artists find so alluring? Perhaps it is an appreciation of their strength and beauty as demonstrated in the Géricault (Horses Going to a Fair) and de Chirico (Castore, shown above) lithographs. In these works the artist’s equine subjects showcase powerful, defined hindquarters and graceful, arched necks. Their nostrils are flared and their ears alert, projecting an air of confidence and majesty.
Or, is it the spiritual qualities of the horse that draw the artist in? I, for one, believe horses are sentient creatures—possessing the ability to perceive and feel, to empathize with their human companions. The idea of animals as spiritual beings is beautifully illustrated in the colorful Expressionist work Sleeping Animal by Franz Marc—the color blue signifying the horse’s heightened spiritual state.
The attraction, no doubt, is a combination of these and many more. After all, the horse did play a significant role in the evolution of human culture and defined it for many centuries. They offered man faster communication, travel, advantages in combat, status and companionship.
It is this idea of companionship, of cooperation between humans and horses, of which I am particularly fond. And the simple yet poignant print by Marino Marini, Acrobat with Two Horses, sums it up beautifully. Here a man stands triumphantly between his two steeds while all three take in the cheers and accolades of the adoring crowd. Man and beast as equals.