Sue Slick, Collection Information Specialist
A horse is a horse, of course, of course!
A compelling artists’ subject since, at least, the Paleolithic age, when hundreds of horse images were painted by early humans in caves many meters below the ground, the horse continues to inspire contemporary artists today. We know the horse was a prey animal of early people as large caches of their bones were found at sites marked by human activity. The animals of cave paintings created 20,000 years ago reveal that they were revered for more than the sustenance they provided. What inspired these ancient painters? We may never know. Since then, however, the horse has continued to enamor artists globally, in all forms of material and representation.
Horses throughout art history have symbolized conquest, virility, material wealth, speed, wildness, beauty, gentle grace, and domesticity. Over millennia, the stage was set for modern artists’ treatment of the horse–from the Lascaux cave paintings of France to the White Horse of Uffington carved by Celts into the chalk ridge of England’s Berkshire Downs. In Asia, stunning terra cotta horses found in the tombs of Chinese emperors fascinated the world. The clay horses of the ancient Haniwa people of Japan are equally intriguing. Horses, and their humans, populate the paintings of Rembrandt, Velazquez, Caravaggio, Bonheur, and Degas, to name a few. The British, chiefly George Stubbs, excelled at portraits of horses and made both an art and science of accurately portraying equine anatomy. In America, we have Russell, Remington, and all the Indigenous peoples whose horses adorn their creations. Modern art gives us Picasso, Butterfield, Marini, Dali, and Rothenberg. There are far too many to list! We humans have loved the horse, and its image, for a very long time.
I haven’t even mentioned glass horses yet! I took a day away from the art museum for a visit to the Indiana State Museum to view the Hoosier Salon exhibition. When I returned to the FWMoA, there was a glass horse in my workspace! I knew this wild pony was arriving soon, and it was delightful to see. There is also an amusing glass equestrian by Dan Dailey joining our herd! The new acquisitions started me wondering: how many horses are in our collection? A quick search of the database says we have at least 100 mentions of horses in a variety of mediums. In addition to the glass sculptures, there are several horses in our toy collection, and at least a few in our knife rest collection. This doesn’t take into account all of the horses that appear in paintings and works on paper. So, let’s take a stroll through our stable to meet a few of our beautiful horses:
Our newest steed is a rearing beast made of glass and steel. The artist, David Bennett, blows molten glass into a metal form, a technique invented at least 2,000 years ago. Bennett is a prolific sculptor of glass horses. We also recently acquired his wonderful blown glass Amber Mare. Born in Oregon in 1941, Bennett spent four years in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Captain. From the military he entered law school and worked as an attorney for a couple of decades. Since 1990, he has created art in glass.
Bennett’s glass training includes studies at the Pratt Institute, the Pilchuck Glass School, and with Pino Signoretto (Italian, 1944-2017) of Murano, Venice’s glass center. Signoretto became a Murano maestro glass blower at the astonishing age of 16 and, at his untimely death, was considered one of the most skilled glass artists of modern-day Murano. The horse was one of his most repeated subjects, perhaps inspiring his student. Bennett’s horses convey a dramatic sense of wildness and fire through his use of steel wire in their manes and tails, providing an effect of energetic movement.
Another of our glass equines, Marlene Rose’s Cobalt Ancient Horse, is far more serene and docile, evocative of ancient cave paintings. Its strong, solid form is calm and steady, retaining the texture of the sand it was molded in. The ancient horse motif is a signature Rose subject, with each mold painstakingly formed for each unique glass pour.
This little glass filly is a working horse made to keep the table linens clean by holding a knife, sparing the tablecloth of butter and jam smears. Her extra-long back makes her very useful indeed.
Two muscular horses in cast bronze are portrayed in Paul Manship’s Day, from the Moods of Time series. They gallop along with the bearer of the sun, who could be Apollo or another of the solar-associated figures of ancient mythology. A horse-drawn chariot bearing the sun, launching the day, is found in many old tales across the world.
Our toy horses are not just horsing around for fun! Here are some workers in harness: two at full gallop pulling a fire engine to douse a blaze and the other proudly pulling a stagecoach inspiring all sorts of imagined Wild West adventures.
We mustn’t neglect our two-dimensional friends; here, a beautiful painting of draft horses hauling felled trees through heavy snow. Their impressive strength and calm demeanor in this bitter cold setting is well conveyed by Emile Gruppe, who was born in Rochester, New York and later became an established member of the Gloucester, Massachusetts art community and the Cape Ann school of painters. Gruppe’s stout draft horses remind me of the Belgians and Percherons we see around northern Indiana working in farm fields and grazing contentedly in peaceful pastures.
Lastly, the theme of horse and rider has persisted through time. Equestrian statues commemorating valor or marking conquest are ubiquitous. Scenes of racing horses and jockeys, horseback circus performers, graceful riders out for a serene hack in New York’s Central Park or Paris’ Bois du Boulonge continue to entrance us while scenes of American West cowboys stir our wild hearts and portrayals of Native Americans and their noble Appaloosas and sturdy paint ponies move us to tears. But there are also images that make us laugh, like Thomas Hart Benton’s Spring Tryout. Do you hear the fellow just unseated by this exuberant colt exclaim, “Oh, horsefeathers!”?
References
New Larouse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Prometheus Press, 1968.
The Art of the Horse, John Fairley, Abbeville Press Publishers, 1995
The Cave Paintings of the Lascaux Cave, Bradshaw Foundation, https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/lascaux/
The Story of the Horse, Jarrett A. Lobell and Eric A. Powell, Archaeology Magazine, 2015, https://archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2015/collection/horse-from-prey-to-domestication/the-story-of-the-horse/