Stubbs and the Horse exhibition opens

(Image credit: The National Gallery Photographi)

It is almost 20 years since the last major exhibition of Stubbs’s work and this is the first to focus on the subject of his passion, the horse. Thirty-four of his paintings and sketches have been gathered from collections, both public and private, worldwide, including Brood Mares and Foals, which has not been seen in public since the 18th century.

The exhibition is staged in a series of rooms at the National Gallery which concentrate on various themes and periods of Stubbs’s work. His unrivalled understanding of horses and their physiognomy is demonstrated in the first room which displays a number of anatomical drawings and prints that he painstakingly made in 1756-8, while preparing for the publication of his book The Anatomy of the Horse.

In the 18th century, British attitudes to art dictated that the highest rank was reserved for history subjects, with portraiture and landscapes considerably lower, and animals lower still. The Rockingham series ensured that Stubbs would never suffer from the ignominy of being known simple as an animal painter. Soon people whose interests did not pivot on hunting, racing and breeding began to commission pieces. His popularity as a society painter was firmly established.