An Officer on Horseback 

Curator: Joshua Reynolds’ "An Officer on Horseback" depicts a military figure amidst a dynamic scene. There's no precise date associated with it, but we can place it within his oeuvre, a master of British portraiture who often intertwined it with historical painting. It is realized in oil paint, a technique for which he's revered. Editor: The immediacy strikes me first. See how Reynolds renders form using tonal modeling. There's so much movement implied; that rearing horse and billowing cloak seem to exist in an energetic instant. Curator: Absolutely, and that's part of Reynolds' ambition. His project involved elevating his sitters. We might look to what this representation signals within the power structures of his era. Who was this officer? How did his station affect notions of heroism and leadership at the time? Whose stories did these depictions silence? Editor: Interesting. I tend to read that billowing cloak differently – not as pure status symbol, but also as visual strategy. Reynolds clearly aimed to lead the eye through that composition. He creates an 'X' across the pictorial plane; the man on the horse forms one diagonal and then our eye rises diagonally, led by the cliff or ruin, to the clouds and then down toward that battle or military action taking place in the lower, right area. Curator: I agree it guides the eye, but let's also consider Reynolds' involvement with the colonial project, viewing how martial prowess gets aestheticized. I am also very interested in seeing it juxtaposed with any artworks by underrepresented people of the time who lacked the means to commission works celebrating themselves in a comparable manner. Editor: It is very intriguing, all this ambiguity… It's an evocative work in oil on canvas. Curator: It certainly provides plenty of opportunity to reflect on questions of power, history, and representation.