Horse, rider and movement · Power, sport and freedom

From sovereign portrait to horse without rider, equestrian painting explores power, speed, anatomy and the relationship between human and animal.

The horse occupies a major place in the history of painting because it combines nobility, strength and movement. In the equestrian portrait, the mount literally elevates the sovereign or military leader. David makes Bonaparte crossing the Great Saint Bernard an image of will and ascension. On the contrary, Géricault captures the instability of an officer launched into battle. George Stubbs removes all riders from Whistlejacket: the single, life-size animal becomes a monumental subject. In the 20th century, Franz Marc freed the horse from its natural color and used blue to express harmony, inner energy and unity with the landscape. The "Equestrian Paintings" selection puts particularly with regard to Whistlejacket - George Stubbs and Bonaparte crossing the Great Saint Bernard - Jacques-Louis David. His reading favors the material.

Equestrian painting reveals the character of the rider as much as that of the horse: mastery, alliance, tension or freedom can be read in their common movement.