WALLY FINDLAY GALLERIES. Graceful Spirit

Transcription

1 WALLY FINDLAY GALLERIES Graceful Spirit C o l l e c t i o n of Equestrian A rt

2 Graceful Spirit C o l l e c t i o n of Equestrian A rt Man has long depended on the horse in farming, transportation, war, religion, and exploration, and as a consequence we have a wonderfully rich legacy of horses depicted in art. Fox hunting is a sport of mounted riders chasing wild quarry with a pack of hounds. It is a union of humans and animals in the beauty of nature s setting. Man is an observer mounted on a horse, allowing him to follow and track the hounds as they hunt the fox. The scenario unwinds before the foxhunter s eyes and ears with the sound of the huntsman s hunting horn, as hounds give chase while the fox or coyote runs through the country cunningly evading the hounds. The music of hounds in full cry echoes off the woodlands and hills as the hounds pursue the quarry across plains or through woods, fields, creeks, marshes and over rock walls and fences. A crescendo of sounds and sights that thrill beyond imagination play out through the hunt until the fox goes to ground or the hounds lose the scent and the hunt is over. One can compare it to a theatrical production with mother nature as the conductor and the hounds in full cry, accompanied by the hunting horn as the orchestra. The popularity of foxhunting continues to grow. There are now 165 organized hunts in North America and Canada. In the United Kingdom and Ireland the number climbs even higher. As many people say, some people ride to hunt, others hunt to ride.

3 Simkha Simkhovitch ( ) Horses and Riders - 18 x 24 inches - Pastel, charcoal & watercolor

4

5 Vu Cao Dam ( ) La Poete, x 19 11/16 inches - Oil on canvas

6

7 André Hambourg ( ) Le matin en Septembre a Deauville - 6 5/16 x 8 11/16 inches - Oil on canvas

8

9 Jean Dufy ( ) L ecuyere, x 7 5/8 inches - Watercolor and gouache on paper

10

11 Simkha Simkhovitch ( ) Study for Ringmaster /8 x 10 inches, Oil on board

12

13 John Leone ( ) Hounds and Horses - 24 x 36 inches - Oil on canvas

14

15 Continental School, circa 1850 A gentleman with his hunter and greyhound - 28 x 36 inches - Oil on canvas

16

17 John Leone ( ) Tracing of hunt scene - 30 x 36 inches - Pencil on paper

18

19 Samuel Spode ( ) S. Spode on his horse Paddy, x 30 inches - Oil on canvas

20

21 Polo is arguably the oldest recorded team sport in known history, with the first matches being played in Persia over 2500 years ago. Initially thought to have been created by competing tribes of Central Asia, it was quickly taken up as a training method for the King s elite cavalry. These matches could resemble a battle with up to 100 men to a side. As mounted armies swept back and forth across this part of the world, conquering and re-conquering, polo was adopted as the most noble of pastimes by the Kings and Emperors, Shahs and Sultans, Khans and Caliphs of the ancient Persians, Arabs, Mughals, Mongols and Chinese. It was for this reason it became known across the lands as the game of kings. British officers re-invented the game in 1862 after seeing a horsemanship exhibition in Manipur, India. The sport was introduced into England in 1869, and seven years later sportsman James Gordon Bennett imported it to the United States. After 1886, English and American teams occasionally met for the International Polo Challenge Cup. Polo was on several Olympic games schedules, but was last an Olympic sport in Polo continues, as it has done for so long, to represent the pinnacle of sport, and reaffirms the special bond between horse and rider. The feeling of many of its players are epitomized by a famous verse inscribed on a stone tablet next to a polo ground in Gilgit, Pakistan: Let others play at other things. The king of games is still the game of kings.

22 John Leone ( ) Second Chukka - 24 x 36 inches - Oil on canvas

23

24 John Leone ( ) Tracing of sockeyes - 36 x 60 inches - Pencil on paper

25

26 Gen Paul ( ) Polo, x 25 inches - Gouache on paper

27

28 For centuries the horse has survived as our faithful companion as well as our transportation and vehicle of war. The horse has been revered in art through the centuries and worshiped as a god and spiritual guide as well as a beast of burden. However, the horse appears in modern art more often as a symbol of leisure with scenes of jockeys and horse racing, gentlemen horseback riding in the ring or on the beach, or American cowboys riding out on the range. Through art one can see the changing cultural perspectives, artistic styles, and symbolic interpretations associated with the horse, a timeless and much-loved subject.

29 Jules Antoine Voirin ( ) Rue Animee, x 10 inches - Oil on canvas

30

31 Horses appear in art as early as the cave paintings of Lascaux, France from the Upper Paleolithic period. In the following masterpieces from Asia and Europe, the horse is often depicted with man as his partner, a fellow warrior. Through these periods the horse has been recorded in as varied of roles as pulling cart-mounted artillery weapons on Trajan s Column (AD 113) to brave beasts carrying Norman warriors on the Bayeaux Tapestry (c.1070). Across many regions, cultures and centuries the heraldic horse continues to appear with the heavily-armored knight in warfare and of course as a symbol of honor in the noble or royal cavalries. Some of the most remarkable images of horses in battle appear later in the 17th Century with the beautiful and heroic naturalist paintings by artists such as Poussin and Rubens. Once again portraying the horse, even in battle, as supple, strong and graceful.

32 after Nicolas Poussin The rape of the Sabine women - 61 x 83 inches - Oil on paper laid down on canvas

33

34 Vu Cao Dam ( ) Le Cheval Blanc, x 28 inches - Oil on canvas

35

36 From American frontier stagecoaches to the handsome cabs of the gilded city of Paris, horses and carriages have made picturesque partners through the ages. Before the mass production of the automobile, horse-drawn carriages were the most common means of local transportation in towns and nearby countryside. Buggies, or carriages, cost as little as $25 to $50, and could easily be hitched and driven by untrained men women or children. At this time hundreds of small companies produced buggies, and their wide use helped to encourage the grading and graveling of main rural roads, and actual paving in towns. It has been more than 40 years since the last horse and carriage trod the streets of Paris but one can easily imagine the charming ride along her grand avenues and past her most famous monuments. A horse especially bred for carriage use is not surprisingly called a carriage horse. These breeds are made of good conformation and strong constitution.

37 Antoine Blanchard ( ) Marche aux fleur de la Madeleine, x 18 inches - Oil on canvas

38

39 Antoine Blanchard ( ) La Madeleine - 18 x 24 inches - Oil on canvas

40

41 The important relationship between man and horse has evolved and along the way man created a variety of breeds of horses to grow with him through civilization and its unique needs. One of the earliest people known to have documented the breeding of their horses were the Bedouin of the Middle East, who bred Arabian horses. While it is likely the Bedouin passed on pedigree information via an oral tradition many years earlier, there are written pedigrees of Arabian horses from A.D The types of horses bred have varied with purpose, culture and fashion. Some variations could include: smooth amblers for riding, fast horses for carrying messengers, heavy horses for plowing and pulling heavy wagons, ponies for hauling cars of ore from mines, packhorses, carriage horses and many others. For example, the Arabian horse of the desert naturally developed speed and endurance to travel long distances and survive the harsh environment, while the European Thoroughbred, a horse taller than the Arabian and faster over the distances of a few miles, was bred to excel as a race horse or a light cavalry horse. A horse developed in Spain that was powerfully built, but extremely nimble and capable of the quick bursts of speed over short distances necessary for certain types of combat as well as for tasks such as bullfighting, is called an Andalusian. Conversely, the Americas needed a hardy horse that was capable of working with cattle. Thus, Arabians and Thoroughbreds were bred with Spanish horses, such as feral Mustangs, which had adapted to the ecology and climate of the west, to ultimately produce new breeds, such as the American quarter horse and the Criollo of Argentina. A beautiful array of beasts each with its own special connection and meaning to man.

42 Bernard de Claviere Hoc majorum virtus - 38 x 51 inches - Oil on canvas

43

44 Bernard de Claviere Dant vires gloriam - 38 x 51 inches - Oil on canvas

45

46 Nicola Simbari ( ) Kikoo le pony, /8 x 39 3/16 inches, Oil on canvas

47 after Antoine-Louis Barye ( ) Jument et son poulains - 13 x 17 inches - bronze

48

49 Dimitri Gerrman Wild Horses, 5/7, x 13 x 9 inches - bronze

50

51 Dimitri Gerrman Horse, x 22 x 12 inches - plaster

52

53 For further information and pricing of these artworks please contact the gallery Palm Beach + 1 (561) palmbeach@wallyfindlay.com Gallery Hours Monday - Saturday : 10 am - 6 pm New York + 1 (212) newyork@wallyfindlay.com Monday - Saturday : 10 am - 6 pm visit our website