Dimensions: support: 905 x 1372 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have George Stubbs' "Bay Hunter by a Lake," painted in oil on canvas. The horse is so elegantly rendered. What do you see in it? Curator: I see a meticulously crafted image that speaks volumes about class and the consumption of leisure in 18th-century England. Consider the materials: oil paint, canvas, costly pigments. Who could afford such a commission? Editor: The wealthy landowners, of course, right? Curator: Precisely. This isn't just a horse; it's a symbol of power, bred for hunting, a past-time of the elite. The very act of painting it reinforces social hierarchies. Editor: So, it's not just about the horse, but about what the horse represents in that society. Curator: Exactly. And how that representation becomes another commodity. Reflecting on it, I wonder if Stubbs’ focus on the materiality of the painting was also a conscious choice to emphasize the labor and skill involved? Editor: I've certainly learned to consider the painting as a material object, embedded in a specific economic context.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/stubbs-bay-hunter-by-a-lake-t02374
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This horse is identified as a ‘bay’– a horse characterised by a reddish-brown coat with black colouring on the mane, tail, ear edges and lower legs. Its ears are cropped and its tail docked, in accordance with 18th-century fashion. Stubbs’s earlier horse portraits usually showed the animal accompanied by a groom, stable boy, jockey or owner. However, in many later works, including this one, the horse is shown alone. The body of water in the background in this work is typical of Stubbs’s sublime landscapes in the 1780s and 90s. Gallery label, September 2024
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