Galopperend paard 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this little painting of a galloping horse with ink and gouache. You can almost feel how quickly it was made! Imagine Gestel’s hand moving fast, capturing the horse’s energy with thick black lines and bold white highlights. There’s a real sense of freedom here, like the horse is breaking free from the earth. The clouds around it, rendered in similar strokes, add to this feeling of movement. He’s evoking the Dutch landscape tradition, perhaps, but it's also like Japanese ink painting, so fluid and expressive. I’m wondering if Gestel was thinking about other artists who have painted horses, like Gericault, or maybe he was just having a good day and decided to let loose and have some fun with his paints. Painting is always a conversation across time. We make art by looking at art.