Have you ever wished you could have a custom painted portrait created of your beloved horse?
Equine artist Danielle Demers, owner of Designs by Dannie, is currently running a contest for her Facebook followers. The winner of the contest will receive an original watercolor and ink portrait of his or her horse. There will also be two runners up who will receive 8″x10″ archival giclee prints of the watercolor paintings Danielle will create of each of their horses.
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Friedrich Eckenfelder was a German Impressionist painter during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born to a shoemaker, his natural artistic talent was discovered in school as a child.
I was unable to find much in English about this prolific artist, but he painted quite a lot so I’m sure that any German readers will recognize him. Clearly he enjoyed the outdoors and had an appreciation for those who worked the earth, and their owners. Quite masterful at capturing natural light on canvas, many of his works almost make you feel like you are there. I’ve got more than one post of his work (and not much more info to share about him) and I quite like the simplicity of his work.
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Nils Kreuger was a Swedish artist during the late 19th and early 20th century. He spent much of his artistic career in Paris where he immersed himself in the plein air style of painting.
Painting outdoors had to provide a sense of liberation and Kreuger indulged his painting urge whenever he felt it. He was particularly fond of landscapes and cityscapes during twilight or mist when the natural light was particularly soft. By the 1890’s he had moved on from Paris & plein air and found himself back in Sweden. He moved through a variety of different artistic styles over the length of his career, many of which are reflected in the paintings below.
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Arturo Michelena was a Venezuelan artist during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born to an artistic family, he began painting at an early age under the guidance of his father.
As a young man he helped his father to open an academy of art in his home town of Valencia. However it wasn’t until Michelena went to Paris that he began painting the finest work of his life. He favored historic scenes using his signature narrative style and his subjects are beautifully romanticized. I love the obvious Iberian influence of the horses in his work.
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Jean-Léon Gérôme was a French artist in the Academicism style during the late 19th century. This style of painting was produced under the influence of academies or universities.
Gérôme’s work is incredibly detailed, and his mastery of capturing the equine animal is quite amazing considering they weren’t his actual subject. Part of it is the obvious relationship he portrays between his subject and their mount, especially in the first one below The Arab and His Steed…you can almost feel the man’s sadness.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born during the mid 19th century to a wealthy family in the south of France. He was not a healthy child and by the time puberty hit he had broken both of his legs resulting in their stunted growth.
From childhood Henri found solace in his art, and he became quite adept at capturing the emotions of this subjects. Perhaps because he spent much of his life feeling like an outsider looking in. As an adult Henri kept questionable company, preferring bawdy dance halls and houses of ill repute to find his inspiration. His body of work is enormous and horses make an appearance in a large portion of them. If you haven’t seen them already be sure to check out pt. 1 & pt 2.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in southern France to an aristocratic family during the mid 19th century. He had a weak & ill childhood which left him somewhat physically deformed.
Henri was a strange little man, oddly misshapen due to broken bones as a child. He took to the bawdy night life of bars & brothels and became a heavy drinker. While much of his art reflects the people with which he shared his time (loose women and burlesque dancers), he also had a softer side. The softer Henri enjoyed the circus and had an obvious appreciation for the equine form. So far I’ve found horses in over 30 of his pieces, so if you haven’t seen the first post of Henri’s horses be sure to check it out.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in 1864 in southern France to an aristocratic family. Although he was a privileged child, he was also an ill one & his passion for art began at a young age.
By the time he had hit puberty, Henri had broken bones in both of his legs which stunted their growth. At physical maturity he stood only 4.5 feet tall and had abnormally short legs. His physical misfortunes caused Henri to throw himself into his art and he favoring the racy parts of town for inspiration. There he could hide from his physical misfortunes…and drink to excess.
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Edgar Degas was a French Impressionist painter during the late 19th & early 20th centuries. Not just an artist, Degas was an art lover and during his lifetime he amassed an enormous collection of art.
Perhaps most widely celebrated for his scenes of Parisian life and his preoccupation with ballet dancers. However his horses are lovingly rendered and his use of color and shadow really captures the flashy coat colors of his subject.
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Many of my readers already know the artistic equine photography of Juliet Harrison, (and if you don’t know her you should check out her interview). Recently she sent me some information about a fantastic solo show and I had to share with my readers.
“Equiscapes” is a solo show by photographer Juliet Harrison who presents an innovative approach to traditional equine form photography. The show runs June 2nd through July 24th & there is also an opening reception June 10th from 6-8pm.
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Nope, it’s not the replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s original masterpiece, its way bigger than that. This is a statue revering a Mongolian legend & equestrian extrodinare, Genghis Khan.
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Rosa Bonheur was a French painter during the mid to late 19th century and she was widely known for her animal paintings. Her father was an artist and she began to study with him at an early age.
Most of her life was spent painting her animal subjects and exhibiting her work. There were very few females among her contemporaries, but Bonheur had no trouble making a name for herself. In fact, she was a flamboyant liberal who wore her hair short, smoked cigars and dressed in mens clothing. Although horses aren’t her sole subject, she captures them with a clearly equestrian perspective.
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