Artistic Horses Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Constable

Constable named his painting 'Scene on the River Stour', but the first owner renamed it. 'The White Horse' was the first major painting Constable sold and went some way towards establishing his reputation, although not his fortune. 'The Hay Wain' followed in 1821 and is probably the best known of his works. Constable was elected to the Royal Academy in 1829 and is remembered as one of England's best landscape painters.

Answer: Eugène Delacroix

Delacroix's painting 'Liberty Leading the People' is located in The Louvre in Paris. It was painted after the 1830 Revolution in France which led to the abdication of King Charles X. The painting 'Horse Frightened by Lightning' dates from the 1820s and is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.

Answer: Edgar Degas

Although Degas is most associated with his depictions of dancers, especially ballet dancers, he was also adept at painting nudes and racehorses. He painted several studies of horses towards the end of his life. The original painting of 'Before the Race' is in the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Answer: Frederic Remington

Frederic Sackrider Remington came from New York, not the 'Wild West', but devoted his time to painting cowboys, cavalrymen and Native Americans. He created close to 3,000 drawings and paintings and was also a sculptor. His works can be seen at many museums, particularly in the western states of the USA.

Answer: William Blake

Although Blake is remembered for his poetry, with 'The Tyger' probably his best known work, he was also a prolific painter and illustrator. He has even been described by one critic, Jonathan Jones, as "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". The painting called 'The Horse' depicts a white horse with a young woman and was used to illustrate William Hayley's 'Ballads'.

Answer: Paul Gauguin

'Le Cheval Blanc' ('The White Horse' in English) was painted by Gauguin during his second sojourn in Tahiti. It dates from 1898, and can be seen in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The painting shows the horse drinking from a pool, with its coat looking more pale green than white due to the tropical vegetation around it.

Answer: Raphael

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was born in Urbino, as referenced in his name, in 1483 and died in Rome in 1520. Despite his short life, by modern standards, he left many works, with most of them being found in the Vatican. Among them is 'The School of Athens'. The painting of Saint George on his horse, slaying the dragon of legend, is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Answer: George Stubbs

Stubbs was born in Liverpool in 1724 and was a self-taught artist. His expertise in depicting horses derived from his experiments in dissection of the animals, which enabled him to create much more realistic images than his contemporaries. The painting of the fighting stallions is owned by The Fred Packard Museum and Galleries for British Sporting Art, located in Newmarket, Suffolk.

Answer: Jacques-Louis David

David's painting shows Napoleon on a white horse, and depicts the crossing of the Alps through the Great Saint Bernard Pass. There are five different versions of the painting, which are similar in style. David also painted 'The Death of Marat' showing the dead man in his bath following his assassination.

Answer: Caravaggio

Tenebrism is a form of chiaroscuro, with a strong contrast between the light and dark elements, and is particularly associated with Caravaggio. He painted many Biblical scenes, of which Saul's conversion while en route to Damascus is just one. Saul is shown lying on the ground, with his horse standing over him.

The original is in Rome, in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo's Cerasi Chapel.