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oil on canvas

ENGRAVED:
by H.T. Ryall, 1851 ('My Horse')
PROVENANCE

Sold by the artist's executors, Christie's, 8th May 1874, lot 136, ('Head of a Black Horse with Attendant'), bt. Agnew for 350 gns.;
Lady Patricia Ramsay (1886-1974), granddaughter of Queen Victoria, her sale, Sotheby's, 30th July 1947, lot 61, bt. Boode for £38;
Anon sale, Christie's, 25th March 1966, lot 30, bt. Leggatt for £1,050
EXHIBITED

Royal Academy, The Work of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, 1874;
Agnew's, The Works of the Late Sir Edwin Landseer, 8th May 1874
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Catalogue of the Works of the late Sir Edwin Landseer R.A., compiled by Algernon Graves, 1875, p. 19, no.229
CATALOGUE NOTE

This superb study of a horse's head, painted in 1835 and once the property of the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Landseer's great royal patron, is striking evidence of Landseer's supremacy as an animal painter. Not since George Stubbs had an artist shown such intrinsic understanding of the horse, and like Stubbs, Landseer's mastery owed much to the fact that at an early age he had closely studied anatomy and carried out a number of dissections on animals.

The title 'My Horse' was given to the picture by Landseer when it was engraved in 1851, showing that the artist thought highly of it. The picture relates closely to 'Return from Hawking' (Private Collection), an ambitious composition which combines Landseer's abilities as an animal painter and portraitist with his enthusiasm for history painting. It was begun in 1835, and was a commission from Lord Francis Egerton, second son of George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland.

Egerton, who was created Earl of Ellesmere in 1846, was heir to his uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, and his vast inheritance included a celebrated collection of Old Master paintings.Egerton was a cultured man, a biographer and poet and first president of the Camden Society. In 'Return from Hawking' Landseer depicted him as a cavalier, standing by the head of a black horse on which his wife, Harriet, is mounted. They have just returned from hawking and are being greeted by their two daughters Blanche, who is in her mother's arms, and Alice, who is teasing one of the falcons with a feather. 'Return from Hawking' is a tour de force, with no fewer than eight dogs as well as dead game, numerous falcons and two fine horses. Landseer had been inspired to paint historical subjects following his meeting in Scotland with Sir Walter Scott, and he produced illustrations for several of Scott's novels. The subject of hawking was linked to tales of medieval chivalry, and by depicting Lord Francis Egerton returning with his wife from hawking he was almost recreating a scene from one of Scott's novels.

Whilst the present painting relates closely to the Egerton commission it is not strictly a study for it, as the groom holding the horse has taken the place of Lord Francis. The picture stands on its own as a masterly depiction of a lively, beautifully groomed animal by the greatest animal painter working in Britain in the Victorian era.