"Leap"

Comment

Comment by Resident Curator on January 19, 2021 at 9:51am

Curator’s Comments:  

 

“Leap” caught my attention today, and it likely has an even more dramatic presence when viewing its large physical scale. While I appreciate the smooth anatomical accuracy of the horse, it is the muted color palette and tension created by the leads that makes this painting noteworthy and dramatic. The unifying blue-gray color scheme with small amounts of contrasting shadow gives the subject a dream like quality, and lightens the visual weight of the body. The contrasting warm tones of the taught reins pull the viewers’ eyes opposite directionally, from the strong forward thrust of the horse. The shift in color temperature between animal and reins enforces the separation between the power that is attempting to tether the horse, and its own formidable volition. This piece appears to be an outlier among your various approaches to figural painting.  I also recognize it was posted many years ago.  I do hope you consider posting new work to the site.