Stubbs & the Horse
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism
Stubbs & the Horse Details
From Booklist Some art history scholars regard George Stubbs as possibly the best painter of horses ever. The 200 images in this volume, the catalog to a current exhibition (now in Fort Worth; in Baltimore to mid-2005) of Stubbs' oeuvre, demonstrate the strength of the assertion. Stubbs flourished from the 1760s to the 1790s primarily on commissions from British landed aristocrats. As Warner and Blake note in their essays, Stubbs gained the nobility's attention with an extraordinary calling card: a set of anatomical drawings that Stubbs based on intense study of equine cadavers. Horses appear strikingly lifelike in his paintings, which, besides their representational quality, embody the beginning of a more humane attitude toward animals. The authors praise Stubbs' individuation of horses, which markedly distinguishes him from painters for whom horses functioned as background scenery or pedestals for generals, not worthwhile subjects in themselves. A worthy tribute to Stubbs' beautifully vibrant work. Gilbert TaylorCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Read more About the Author Malcolm Warner, Senior Curator at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, is the author of several books, including The Victorians: British Painting, 1837-1901 and Millais: Portraits; Robin Blake is an independent scholar based in London and is the author of a forthcoming biography on Stubbs; Lance Mayer and Gay Myers are consulting conservators based at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut. Read more
Reviews
This book is outstanding. The plates are all in color and large enough to see easily. Stubbs anatomical drawings are very detailed. I had been having trouble understanding how horses moved before I saw those drawings. Seeing the skeleton and muscles helped considerably. When I took it to class and showed my professor, she got online and bought one for herself. She draws/paints horses beautifully and owns horses herself.Reading the background information about George Stubbs and the symbolism used in his paintings was very interesting and educational.