WHISTLEJACKET EXHIBITION IN YORK 26th April- 31st August
One of the National Gallery's most iconic images is heading to York in 2008. Whistlejacket was painted by George Stubbs who spent his early career in York- even marrying in the city.
This exhibition at York Art Gallery, will showcase this magnificent work and will bring together work from local galleries and private collections, including a portrait of the famous racehorse Gimcrack, his midwifery illustrations and selection of his drawings for The Anatomy of the Horse.
There will also be a selection of contemporary watercolour paintings and prints depicting York Racecourse, plus other related exhibits.
GEORGE STUBBS
Stubbs was born in Liverpool in 1724. He was the son of a leather worker and spent his early career painting portraits and developing his interest in anatomy.
He arrived in York as a young man in 1746 from Leeds and settled in the parish of Stonegate. He married in York and two of his children were born here and baptised at St Helen's Church.
Through his friend Charles Atkinson, a surgeon at York's new County Hospital, he became a superb anatomical draughtsman and supplied the illustrations for a treatise on midwifery published in 1751.
From 1756, he rented a farmhouse in Horkstow, Lincolnshire, where he dissected horses in order to make detailed studies of their anatomy. The result of his work, The Anatomy of the Horse, was published in 1766. The Horkstow drawings are now owned by the Royal Academy.
In around 1758 he moved to London, where his career took off. He died in 1806.
WHISTLEJACKET
Whistlejacket, foaled in 1749, was a racehorse owned by Marquess of Rockingham. His most famous victory was in a race over four miles for 2,000 guineas at York in August 1759.
Stubbs painted his life- sized portrait of Whistlejacket for the Marquess in 1762. According to some writers of the period the original intention was to commission an equestrian portrait of George III, but it is more likely that Stubbs always intended to show the horse alone rearing up against a neutral background.
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