PICTURE HORSES 281 



" For some mysterious reason the impossible swan- 

 necked creatures of the old sporting prints always find 

 favour with ' horsy ' men. There is a certain glamour, 

 too, about the work of Sartorius. But in the past no 

 British artist had more thoroughly mastered the con- 

 struction of the horse than George Morland, as those 

 know best who are familiar with his studies and sketches. 

 None has since surpassed him in depicting a raw-boned 

 old crock a far more difficult thing than to burnish 

 up the chubby beasts into whose snorting heads Landseer 

 used to put rolling, human eyes. 



" An artist may succeed with all other animals, and 

 yet find the horse beyond him, as was the case with 

 J. M. Swan. On the other hand, Rosa Bonheur produced 

 the anatomical horse, of which a cast is in every artist's 

 studio, but the alleged horses she put on to canvas are 

 as much like bullocks, because she could neither draw 

 nor paint. 



" The French galaxy of battle-painters, Meissonier, 

 Gericault, Aime Morot, the Vernets, and the rest, painted 

 the horse with almost photographic accuracy, but their 

 steeds have no more character or individuality than the 

 guns and drums and other properties in their pictures. 



" The racing scenes of the mighty Degas are famous, 

 but it has to be confessed that his race-horses are pony- 



