Horse Group No. 10 1937

Curator: Arthur George Murphy created "Horse Group No. 10" in 1937. It seems to be a pencil and graphite drawing printed on paper. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: It’s like a dream sequence! So stark and simplified. There's the unmistakable symbol of the horse, rearing up, almost primal. Then this tiny figure, barely there, holding the reins. A feeling of power struggling against restraint comes through immediately. Curator: Indeed. Looking at it materially, it seems a mechanically reproduced image – possibly lithographic. I wonder about the process, perhaps intentionally blurred to give the feel of an ethereal, almost unconscious snapshot of action and tension, mediated by labor. Editor: Yes, the wispy, smoky shading really emphasizes the ephemerality. Consider how the horse has been a potent symbol across cultures and eras, embodying power, freedom, even the untamed aspects of the human spirit. To see it rendered like this—almost incomplete—evokes a kind of longing. Curator: I wonder if that incomplete feeling reflects Murphy's engagement with modernist themes around this period. You know, challenging classical representations, critiquing idealized notions of subjecthood, fragmenting labor into different fields of actions and intentions. It certainly moves us away from heroic equestrian statuary, placing labor and animal in close contest. Editor: It's like he’s hinting at the inner states. The figure's posture; bent double. It conveys an intense physical and mental exertion, striving for control. In psychoanalytic terms, you might even interpret it as the ego trying to control the id. The horse being the unbridled drive! Curator: An interesting angle! We can't ignore, however, the paper. Given the year, this work was most likely produced cheaply using industrial means to allow wider accessibility to artwork that plays on symbolic representation but roots it in lived experience. Editor: I agree. Overall, it's this striking juxtaposition, isn't it? High symbolic weight communicated through almost crude and rapidly made material processes. Curator: Well, that's brought new meaning to the production. A fitting intersection of image and object! Editor: Definitely. I will consider the weight of such symbolism in the future, after better accounting for materiality!