Adam Frans van der Meulen was a Flemish Baroque painter during the 17th century and was perhaps most well known for his battle scenes.

Equine Focus

Frans van der Meulen’s art focused on horses in landscapes and because of this he was quickly recommended for (and given the job of) battle painter for Louis XIV of France. Although I can’t say I’m a huge fan of his art, I can appreciate the level of detail involved in each of his subjects and the stout bodied, flowing maned mounts of his calvary units.
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Józef Brandt was a Polish painter during the late 19th and early 20th centuries who was particularly celebrated for his battle scenes. The Frederic Remington of Poland, Brandt was an incredibly prolific artist who managed to tell a story with every painting.

Not Much Info

Like many of the non-English artists, I don’t possess the language skills to learn much about Brandt. However, I did discover that he was talked out of being an engineer by Juliusz Kossok and he later started an art school in Munich for young Polish artists.
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Franz Krüger was a Prussian painter and lithographer during the early 19th century who was perhaps most well known for his romantic approach to painting the equine animal.

Not Just Horses

This talent was stoked in Berlin where he exhibited an affinity for portraiture. Among his satisfied clients were a number of military officers and Prince August of Prussia. This led him to become a popular portrait artist among the well-to-do of Berlin and beyond.
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Carl Gustav Adolf Closs was a German painter and illustrator during the late 19th and early 20th century. Born to an artistic family, Closs was the son of a wood engraver and studied art at a young age.

Not Just Painting

Initially Closs followed in his father’s footsteps and began illustrating books with wood engravings, however this was just a means to an end. His true passion was painting. He had no problem with scale and painted a variety murals (most of which were lost during the wars of the 20th century). Closs was also a history & heraldry buff and that passion is evident in much of his work. He was considered to be among the best heralds of his time.
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Last week I posted part one of Friedrich Eckenfelder’s work and this week it’s part two. Like I said last week, I couldn’t find much about him in English so I’m going to keep this short & sweet and let the art speak for itself.
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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.

Love of the Outdoors

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.

Venezuelan Hero

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.

Not Really About Horses

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.

Art from Tragedy

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.

Enjoying the Bawdy Life

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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