Details
The image
A horse and rider drawn in profile, the animal’s neck arched and the rider leaning forward, the ground suggested by a band of colour and the stands by a few strokes. The palette is warm and the composition is horizontal, so the sheet reads as a scene from the side rather than as a portrait.
Where it comes from
The poster was made by the Swiss painter Maurice Barraud for the Concours Hippique in Geneva in 1943, at a moment when the city was still holding its equestrian events through the war years. Barraud was known for figure painting and for his understanding of the ring and the sheet carries that knowledge: the horse is drawn as an anatomy rather than as an emblem and the rider’s seat is observed rather than stylised.
On the wall
It suits a study, a hallway or a living room with warm furniture, where a figure in movement gives a wall direction. Because the composition is horizontal and the palette limited, it holds a wide wall without weight. In a group it should be the piece that introduces movement.
In company
The Vintage collection is the obvious place to look for a neighbour.Avoid hanging it beside a second horse, two profiles on one wall read as a catalogue rather than as a picture.
