The horse is part of the history of Ireland, and it is an animal that is celebrated in art. If not always the central theme of works, the horse plays an important role, most often depicted carrying men into battle.
For some three years, the National Gallery of Ireland curator Dr Brendan Rooney was putting together a major exhibition, due to have launched in April, titled The Irish Horse. Excusing the pun, but this plan fell at the last hurdle when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Thankfully, all is not lost and a digital version of the exhibition is now available to explore for free on the gallery’s website.
Dr Rooney’s introduction to the exhibition sums it up perfectly. “It is difficult for a modern audience to imagine an Ireland in which horses were everywhere. A world in which transport, trade and recreation required the employment of thousands of horses, and in which industries and professions maintained the equine population and facilitated the services it provided.
David McMahon on Flash (from Pony Kids), 1999 by Perry Ogden.
“The appeal of the horse itself is more familiar. Irish horses have stimulated conversation, excited the imagination, and been revered and sought-after at home and abroad for centuries. They have exercised a material and psychological influence over the lives of Irish people.
“Though the number of specialist Irish horse painters in the eighteenth century was small, Irish artists made a significant contribution to the early pictorialisation of the horse. So-called ‘sporting art’ – the depiction of racing and hunting in particular – offered limited opportunities, but horses had always been present in Irish art; hauling carts, drawing carriages, carrying soldiers.
“What changed in the nineteenth century is that these utilitarian horses emerged from the background to become, like thoroughbreds, subjects in their own right, or at least prominent, compositional elements.
“With the advent of the train, electrified trams, and, most particularly, motor vehicles in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the practical functions of the horse inevitably declined, and horses were slowly withdrawn from the public spaces in which they had been most visible for centuries.
“The horse did not disappear from Irish consciousness, however. It merely assumed new significance and meaning for artists, and has given rise ever since to some outstandingly powerful works of arts in Ireland.
“This exhibition is a celebration of the unique and enduring relationship, as communicated by artists, between Ireland and the horse.”
The exhibition covers an enormous period of time, various genres and mediums, and includes works by some of the greatest artists in history, not necessarily known for their equine output. One such example is that of William Orpen in his work Sergeant Murphy and Things. The painting depicts the winner of the 1923 Aintree Grand National with his owner, trainer and jockey, though Orpen did not name the humans.
Other artists with works included are Jack B Yeats and Alfred James Munnings, while we are brought right up to date with the inclusion of a classic pieces by the internationally renowned Peter Curling and Tony O’Connor. The latter is a sixth-generation blacksmith who has developed a style that makes his work instantly recognisable.
Broadening the appeal of the exhibition, there are captivating photographs by Spencer Murphy of jockeys, without horses in this instance, and they include the siblings Ruby and Katie Walsh. Other riders, not so well known, feature in the work of Perry Ogden who has loaned some of his work to the exhibition. They centre on the Smithfield Market in Dublin where the photographer was enthralled by “the passion shared by each for the animals in their care.”
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The Artist's Studio: Lady Hazel Lavery with her Daughter Alice and Stepdaughter
The horse is part of the history of Ireland, and it is an animal that is celebrated in art. If not always the central theme of works, the horse plays an important role, most often depicted carrying men into battle.
For some three years, the National Gallery of Ireland curator Dr Brendan Rooney was putting together a major exhibition, due to have launched in April, titled The Irish Horse. Excusing the pun, but this plan fell at the last hurdle when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Thankfully, all is not lost and a digital version of the exhibition is now available to explore for free on the gallery’s website.
Dr Rooney’s introduction to the exhibition sums it up perfectly. “It is difficult for a modern audience to imagine an Ireland in which horses were everywhere. A world in which transport, trade and recreation required the employment of thousands of horses, and in which industries and professions maintained the equine population and facilitated the services it provided.
David McMahon on Flash (from Pony Kids), 1999 by Perry Ogden.
“The appeal of the horse itself is more familiar. Irish horses have stimulated conversation, excited the imagination, and been revered and sought-after at home and abroad for centuries. They have exercised a material and psychological influence over the lives of Irish people.
“Though the number of specialist Irish horse painters in the eighteenth century was small, Irish artists made a significant contribution to the early pictorialisation of the horse. So-called ‘sporting art’ – the depiction of racing and hunting in particular – offered limited opportunities, but horses had always been present in Irish art; hauling carts, drawing carriages, carrying soldiers.
“What changed in the nineteenth century is that these utilitarian horses emerged from the background to become, like thoroughbreds, subjects in their own right, or at least prominent, compositional elements.
“With the advent of the train, electrified trams, and, most particularly, motor vehicles in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the practical functions of the horse inevitably declined, and horses were slowly withdrawn from the public spaces in which they had been most visible for centuries.
“The horse did not disappear from Irish consciousness, however. It merely assumed new significance and meaning for artists, and has given rise ever since to some outstandingly powerful works of arts in Ireland.
“This exhibition is a celebration of the unique and enduring relationship, as communicated by artists, between Ireland and the horse.”
The exhibition covers an enormous period of time, various genres and mediums, and includes works by some of the greatest artists in history, not necessarily known for their equine output. One such example is that of William Orpen in his work Sergeant Murphy and Things. The painting depicts the winner of the 1923 Aintree Grand National with his owner, trainer and jockey, though Orpen did not name the humans.
Other artists with works included are Jack B Yeats and Alfred James Munnings, while we are brought right up to date with the inclusion of a classic pieces by the internationally renowned Peter Curling and Tony O’Connor. The latter is a sixth-generation blacksmith who has developed a style that makes his work instantly recognisable.
Broadening the appeal of the exhibition, there are captivating photographs by Spencer Murphy of jockeys, without horses in this instance, and they include the siblings Ruby and Katie Walsh. Other riders, not so well known, feature in the work of Perry Ogden who has loaned some of his work to the exhibition. They centre on the Smithfield Market in Dublin where the photographer was enthralled by “the passion shared by each for the animals in their care.”
Read more
The Front Row: The life of Sarah Henrietta Purser
The Artist's Studio: Lady Hazel Lavery with her Daughter Alice and Stepdaughter
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