Horse Head 1926

Paul Wayland Bartlett's bronze "Horse Head", its age unknown, feels incredibly alive. I can imagine the artist's hands shaping the clay, coaxing out the animal's form, smoothing the planes and textures, working with subtle variation. I feel like Bartlett sympathizes with the horse, captures its strength, its breath. Look at the rippling muscles along the neck, the flared nostril, the slight tension around the mouth. There is a certain weight to the face of the sculpture, like it is exhausted from running. Bartlett knew the language of form intimately. Think about his process – the physicality, the constant adjustments, the battle to distill something wild into a contained shape. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time, riffing off one another’s ideas. Every brushstroke, every curve, a testament to that ongoing exchange.