Stubbs, a Thoroughbred Painter of Horses

No one before had ever painted horses like George Stubbs. Not only did they look incredibly lifelike, he seemed able to capture their individual character -- a talent that ensured he could command extremely high prices for his work from wealthy and influential patrons. 

There's now a rare chance to appreciate the only one of the painter's outstanding lifesize equine canvases still in private hands in a small free exhibition, Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse, in Room 1 at the National Gallery in London. This is Scrub, eight times a race winner, who like the gallery's Whistlejacket belonged to one of those rich patrons, the Marquess of Rockingham, and he commissioned both pictures in about 1762. 

Scrub, again like Whistlejacket, was depicted not just as a racehorse, under the control of a jockey or stable boy, but in a grand manner, intended to serve as the steed in an equine portrait of George III, who had recently come to the throne. Other specialist painters would be used to add in the king and the surroundings. 

There's a monumental wow factor to this incredibly detailed and beautiful painting. An array of meticulous drawings on show here demonstrates the reason for the accuracy of the portrayal: intensive research. In his early 30s, Stubbs spent 18 months dissecting and drawing the bodies of horses at a remote farmhouse in Lincolnshire. He went on to publish The Anatomy of the Horse, which features 18 plates etched by the artist from his drawings and more than 50,000 words of meticulous scientific text.

Its publication in 1766 earned Stubbs instant and lasting appreciation, not least from the animal painters who followed him. It was the most thorough study on the subject for over a hundred years. And incredibly, Stubbs’s horse pictures are still some of the most accurate ever painted, all the while capturing their unique characters. He almost always worked from life (which was not that unusual in the 18th century) but it was his scientific approach that distinguished his work.

Now Scrub is hugely impressive, but he's not quite as impressive as Whistlejacket, perhaps the most famous horse portrait of all, at least in Britain. Whistlejacket hasn't joined his stablemate in this small display in Room 1, but you can't miss him; you can see him from a long way off in pride of place down the central vista of the National Gallery as you approach from what is now the main entrance in the Sainsbury Wing. 

Why is Whistlejacket more striking than Scrub? Well, it has to be the lack of distraction from the animal itself. No sky, no clouds, no water, no trees, just a plain background, with a hint of shadow beneath the rear hooves. In this race of champions, Whistlejacket wins by a length. In fact, Rockingham commissioned Whistlejacket first, and he liked the result so much he kept the picture and got Stubbs to start again, with Scrub. But then the nobleman decided not to go ahead with the George III portrait and never actually bought the Scrub painting from Stubbs, who added in the background later. 

Stubbs's work continued to be held in such esteem that around 1790 he was approached by an anonymous patron to create a series of paintings of thoroughbred racehorses over the past half-century. The patron assumed the monicker of Mr Turf, making him sound to today's ears rather like a dodgy bookmaker ("You don't need to know my name, Georgie boy, just call me Mr Turf...."). In January 1794, Stubbs opened the Turf Gallery in Conduit Street in Mayfair with 16 pictures, but he pulled out of the project later that year when funding fell through. You can see two of the canvases in this display. 

And of course, Stubbs didn't only paint horses, did he? There were dogs, there was a rhino, and even a cheetah in his oeuvre. And in the first of the two Turf Gallery paintings, a sheep, complete with the markings of the breeder -- DOK or Dennis O'Kelly. The champion racehorse Dungannon, who'd befriended the lamb, provides a size comparison. 

And also lining up at the National: Mambrino, famed for his success as a stallion as the ancestor of the American Standardbred horse, in rather more inspiring surroundings than Dungannon's paddock.

It's a small Stubbs display at the National Gallery, but it's well worth a trot round. 

Practicalities

Stubbs: Portrait of a Horse is on at the National Gallery in London until May 31, and entry to this one-room show is free of charge. The gallery is open daily from 1000 to 1800, and until 2100 on Fridays. We spent about 20 minutes in the display. 

The gallery is on the north side of Trafalgar Square, just a couple of minutes from Charing Cross or Leicester Square stations on the rail and Underground networks.

Images

George Stubbs (1724-1806), Scrub, a Bay Horse Belonging to the Marquess of Rockingham, about 1762, Private collection. © Private collection. Photo: The National Gallery, London

George Stubbs, Finished study for The First Anatomical Table of the Muscles, Fascias, Ligaments, Nerves, Arteries, Veins, Glands, and Cartilages of the Horse, 1756-58. © Royal Academy of Arts, London

George Stubbs, Whistlejacket, about 1762. © The National Gallery, London
George Stubbs, Dungannon with a Lamb, 1793, Private collection. © Private collection. Photo: The National Gallery, London
George Stubbs, Mambrino, 1779, Private collection. © Private collection. Photo: The National Gallery, London