Whistlejacket

Today we present ... a huge portrait of a horse. Whistlejacket (the horses's name) is one of the most famous horses of art history. He belonged to the Marquess of Rockingham. George Stubbs, specialist equine artist, painted him approximately at life-size, rearing up against a plain background. In 1762 Stubbs was invited by Rockingham to spend "some months" at Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, his main country house. Stubbs had painted many horse portraits, but the heroic scale and lack of background of Whistlejacket are unique in his work and in equine portraits in general. We see the horse rising to a levade, but with his head turned towards the viewer, producing a romantic study in solitude and liberty. The painting is an early intimation of Romanticism, and a challenge to the lowly place animal painting occupied in the hierarchy of genres.

We want to challenge this place too, so we have created a new set of POSTCARDS with animals only! They are amazingly beautiful, with art from all parts of the world (we really went beyond European art history classics). Check them out here!  :)

P.S. Meet Alfred Munnings, who just like Stubbs, loved horses and painted countless equine portraits.