Springende ruiter 1975

Aat Verhoog made this print of a horse and rider sometime after 1933, using an etching technique. Imagine the artist leaning over the plate, carefully incising lines to capture the tension and grace of the animal in mid-leap. I sympathize with the artist here – the image feels so delicately balanced, caught between capturing the energy of the jump and the need for precision. I wonder if Verhoog was thinking about Muybridge’s photographs of horses in motion when they made this? Look at the way the lines around the horse’s legs trail off, dissolving into the white space of the paper. It gives the whole image a sense of lightness, as if the horse might just float away. It makes me think about Degas and how he looked at bodies in motion. Artists are always in conversation with each other, borrowing ideas, and pushing boundaries.