The Black Horse 1942

John Atherton made “The Black Horse” using oil on canvas and just look at that horse! It’s caught under a rickety wooden structure, and it seems to be staring out at this unreal landscape. I imagine that when Atherton made this, he was trying to work out his relationship with realism and surrealism because the mountain could be real, but the color palette throws the whole thing off. The horse looks to be in motion, and I wonder if it has the strength to kick its way out of the ruin. What's cool here is that painting is about taking a feeling and turning it into a thing, and then you get to look at the thing and feel the feeling—a doubling or feedback loop. It's like one continuous exchange of ideas as it bounces through time. That’s what makes it beautiful.