George Stubbs, 'Whistlejacket', about 1762.
London, The National Gallery.

Stubbs and the Horse

29 June - 25 September 2005
Sainsbury Wing Admission charge

Supported by Juddmonte Farms

George Stubbs was not only the greatest of all British horse painters, but arguably the greatest painter of horses in the history of European art. 'Stubbs and the Horse' was the first exhibition to focus solely on this theme in his work.

Assembling some of his finest paintings and most beautiful anatomical drawings, the exhibition explored the social, cultural and intellectual environment in which they were produced, providing a fascinating insight into the importance of the horse in 18th-century British culture. It also reunited paintings commissioned by Stubbs's highly cultivated patrons, such as the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, for whom the National Gallery's great painting 'Whistlejacket' was made.

The exhibition included Stubbs's 'sublime' paintings of horses attacked by lions and his classically inspired, frieze-like studies of mares and foals at stud farms, as well as riding portraits, conversation-pieces and scenes from the stableyard and racecourse.

'Stubbs and the Horse' was organised by the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, in association with the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, and the National Gallery, London.

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