The horse: empire, modernity and modern art
Weekend-long art history and theory course
22 June 2019 10am - 5pm23 June 2019 10am - 5pm
Wolfson British Academy Room, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£420. Includes all materials, light refreshments and a wine reception at the end of day one.
Terms and conditions
This weekend course explores the remarkably different roles played by the horse in sporting art, the equestrian monument and modern art. Join art historian, Dr Nicholas Watkins, and expert guest lecturers including the President of the Royal Academy and Director of the National Horseracing Museum.
The horse is rooted so deeply in the psyche of the Western imagination that it has maintained its expressive power in the age of the internet. Few images speak with such authority and depth of tradition. Equestrian imagery mixes myth and reality, follows different time scales and has accumulated vastly different meanings.
For example, the mounted leader suspended in action in an equestrian monument provides an eternally valid symbol of national identity and empire, whereas Muybridge's stop-framed horse in full gallop suggests speed and continuous change.
The rise of horse painting as a specialist genre in the late 17th and early 18th centuries coincided with the evolution of the Thoroughbred from the founding Arabian sires and the development of hunting and racing into widely popular pastimes.
Manet and Degas considered horseracing a quintessential modern life subject, non-classical, intensely dramatic and highly competitive, where classes clashed and fortunes were made and lost.
Furthermore, without the horse it proved difficult to convey such abstract concepts as the power of Watts’s steam engines or the electrification of Italy (as seen in Umberto Boccioni’s Futurist masterpiece of 1910 The City Rises).
By contrast, Gauguin and the Blue Rider Group employed the horse to symbolise a spiritual rejection of modernity: the horse was innocence, to ride naked was to be at one with nature.
For Munnings the horse represented tradition, a defining image of Englishness, epitomised by his celebrated hunting and racing scenes. In Guernica the most moving protest painting of the 20th century, Picasso depicted an agonised horse in its death throes to evoke the destruction of the civilian population by the German Condor Legion flying for Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
The course examines the diverse and fascinating ways in which leading contemporary artists have drawn on the constructional and expressive power of the equestrian image.
The course will include a special keynote in-conversation with Christopher Le Brun, President of the Royal Academy who has made extensive use of equestrian imagery in his work.
Christopher Garibaldi, Director of the newly re-opened National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, will discuss the museums unique collection of sporting art from the early 17th century to the present day.
Dr Philip Ward-Jackson will explore the key role played by the equestrian monument as a symbol of national identity and empire.
The course is complementary to the practical weekend course: Drawing the Animal Form: Anatomy of the Horse.
About the course
This course provides a unique opportunity to learn about the key roles played by the horse in art from Stubbs to the present day. It is led by the hippophile modern art historian, Dr Nicholas Watkins, and will include contributions from leading experts in their respective fields.
This course will be delivered primarily through lectures but will also include full opportunity for debate and discussion.
The course will include the unique opportunity to view Stubbs’s working drawings for The Anatomy of the Horse in the library of the Royal Academy.
You will enjoy the magnificent setting of the Royal Academy and a course which is designed both to provide a fascinating overview of this neglected topic for those new to the field and fresh insights for those with a long-standing interest in equestrian art.
This course is suitable for those with no prior knowledge of the subject as well as those with previous experience who would like to develop their understanding further.
This course is for you if:
• You have a general interest in art history and would like a novel way to understand cultural, aesthetic and historical change
• You have a specific interest in equine art history and how horses have been presented, interpreted and viewed by different audiences, over time
• You would like to deepen your knowledge with an expert perspective and explore in detail horses as depicted in art
Minimum age 18
£420
Saturday 22 – Sunday 23 June 2019
10am-5pm on both days
• 2 days of expert-led lectures and discussions
• Access to the RA collection, including George Stubbs' working drawings for the Anatomy of the Horse
• The opportunity to socialise and network with peers in a friendly environment
• Light refreshments provided on both days
• A drinks reception at the end of day one
• A certificate of participation upon course completion
About the tutor
Nicholas Watkins
Dr Nicholas Watkins, an acknowledged authority on modern art, was riding by the age of four and is still riding today. He has lectured and published on a series of a series of equestrian topics including: the impact of Picasso’s Guernica and the transformation of the horse from fascist symbol of power to archetypal image of civilian suffering; Gauguin’s legacy and the quest for an earthly paradise; Marino Marini and the undermining and destruction of the classical European horseman; and the representation of the hunting landscape in the UK.
About the guest speakers
Christopher Le Brun is a painter, sculptor and printmaker. He was elected President of the Royal Academy in December 2011. He is the 26th President since Sir Joshua Reynolds and the youngest to be elected since Lord Leighton in 1878. Born in Portsmouth in 1951 he trained at the Slade and Chelsea Schools of Art, London. In his early career, he was a double prize winner at the John Moores exhibitions, 1978 and 1980, also showing in the Venice Biennale, 1980, and the ground-breaking Zeitgeist at the Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin 1982. He has since exhibited extensively worldwide, and his work can be found in many major museum and private collections, as well as in the public realm with sculpture in London and St Helier. He served as a trustee of Tate 1990–1995, The National Gallery 1996–2003, Dulwich Picture Gallery 2000–2005, and as a founding trustee of the Royal Drawing School 2003–2016. He is currently a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. His most recent exhibition was with the Lisson Gallery London in 2018. He is also represented by the Albertz Benda Gallery in New York. He is currently The President of The Royal Academy of Arts.
Annette Wickham has curated exhibitions and displays from the RA Collection including John Gibson RA: A British Sculptor in Rome, Daniel Maclise: The Waterloo Cartoon, and The Anatomy Professor: Doctors, death and dining at the RA. She regularly publishes and gives talks on various aspects of the history of the Royal Academy, its Collections and its Schools. She has recently written chapters on anatomy at the RA and the practice of drawing in the RA Schools in Robin Simon ed., The Royal Academy of Arts: History and Collections, YUP/RA 2018. Annette studied History of Art at Manchester University and the Courtauld Institute, and was previously an Assistant Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Christopher Garibaldi started his career with English Heritage and the Royal Collection. He was Keeper of Decorative Art and Senior Curator at Norwich Castle Museum from 1998 to 2003. Following an MBA at the University of Cape Town he worked as Assistant Director of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of Historic Houses and Collections. From 2010 he has been Director and Chief Executive of the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket where he led a multi-million pound capital redevelopment to create the new National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art at Palace House which was formally opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 3 November 2016. He has recently moved on to become an independent researcher and is returning to full-time education this autumn to undertake an MPhil at the University of Cambridge on the architectural history of the palaces of Newmarket and the influence of horseracing on patterns of aristocratic patronage in the 17th and 18th centuries
Drawing the animal form: anatomy of the horse
Artist, writer and broadcaster Dr Sarah Simblet will lead a detailed and artistic examination of the horse. Join us for a practical course studying works from the RA’s historic teaching collection, as well as a recently reconstructed horse skeleton, to create compelling works and explore this complex subject matter.
Our courses and classes programme
Our programme of short courses and classes offers the opportunity to explore a range of subjects, led by expert tutors and practising artists.
Give this course as a gift
All of our courses can be purchased as a gift for a friend or family member – giving the gift of education and a remarkable experience. To arrange a personalised Gift Voucher, please contact Anna Pojer, Academic Programmes Manager, by calling 020 7300 5684 or email anna.pojer@royalacademy.org.uk