George Stubbs: portrait of the horse Whistlejacket | National Gallery

National Gallery Adult Learning Programmer Matthew Morgan gives an in-depth talk on George Stubbs's magnificent painting of the race horse Whistlejacket. Enjoy an insight into Stubbs's painting technique, and how he came to paint 'Whistlejacket' for the Marquess of Rockingham.
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[@maryjoy5641]

Beautiful presentation..speaker is so colorful and precise…easy to understand his British eloquent voice..what an intellectual!!!❤

[@heidismit5261]

This painting..I mean...what. This PAINTING. I could not believe my eyes. In this film the gold does not show, nor its size. I am still reeling from the experience of seeing this for the first time.

[@inessamaria2428]

When I visited National Gallery in 2018, this picture caught me immediately.

[@randomvielleuse527]

I have loved this painting from the first moment I saw it, as a postcard. It's so interesting to learn more about it, and about the horse himself. I had no idea his lineage was so exhalted! I so wish I knew more about him, his personality, his height, etc. But at least we have this exquisite likeness to admire. Thank you!

[@makienxhemmiktar]

Sick of people commenting on things that are trivial to the painting itself. Just enjoy the content of this FREE lecture. I found it very interesting. Thanks for uploading!

[@paillette2010]

@JONATHAN SUTCLIFFE You exemplify your stupidity with this post. Thanks for sharing! LOL

[@kirschrot77]

This painting has a very modern feel

[@leemosher5513]

It is 2023 and I’ve just discovered this video. Every time this happens it’s like Christmas! Thank you!

[@nationalgallery]

Haha Merry 'Christmas'!

[@cryptonite8495]

It's frustrating that as the presenter talks about close-ujp details, the camera remains stubbornly locked on a wide-angle view of the room and you are left to imagine the veins in his legs that are discussed, for example. About halfway through, we get a brief close-up of the head (thank you!) and a couple glimpses of head and torso before the end. It's almost like no one was manning the camera in the early part of the talk.

[@Badgersj]

It sounds as if he says Stubbs' father was a 'farrier, who makes things out of leather.' I think he means 'currier', a farrier is someone who shoes horses.

[@GillMosley-wo9mf]

I thought he said farrier but think he meant furrier ,someone who dealt in furs. That's my guess anyway.

[@Badgersj]

@@GillMosley-wo9mf I have to admit I googled it, it does say he was a 'currier'.

[@andrzejmaranda3699]

The National Gallery: this is FANTASTIC!

[@franciscorrie7976]

Visit to St Osyth museum reveals this painting hung in Priory for a while, where the floor had to be lowered to accommodate size of Whistlejacket, then a facsimile 9/10 size was made to return to St Osyth and fit into room with regular flooring!

[@lyoncristiano8783]

Painting magnificent, drew me close attention to this painting of horse Whistlejacket. This painting conveys a strong, brave and courageous horse and very well applied in the painting, I love being able to sit in front of my computer, and to assimilate content on art history, I love the channel of The National Gallery, content very well addressed and explained by Matthew Morgan, continue with this beautiful work of transmitting art to the world, a big hug to all involved of The National Gallery, from Recife, BRAZIL. It would be a dream to visit this gallery someday.

[@jayhenderson8483]

The most amazing thing about "Whistlejacket" is Stubs had no photography to help him. I can feel this horses weight and stroke the velvet coat.

[@bobn450]

A visit to the National Horseracing museum at Newmarket is highly recommended.

[@bawbtherevelator6445]

Thanks so much! I find the "lack of background" even more fascinating than Stubbs' labors to make his horse drawings anatomically perfect. Can Stubbs have used this as a device for the viewer to focus on the anatomy? My speculation only...

[@teresanferreira]

Thank you.Grand work! very well introduced and explained.

[@DaimlerSleeveValve]

I started researching the horses dealt with by a stud groom from 1840. There are whole websites which deal in the genealogy of racehorses. The ancestors of these horses whose service were being offered at 10 guineas a mare were names I'd heard of. Eclipse - and Whistlejacket! If you want a painting of your horse, and for this sort of horse I'm sure you would, Stubbs is your man!

[@Art_ography_by_artnabart1]

Thought provoking explanation of Whistlejacket, and his commission. A question I had through many years, has been answered as to the pose. The way Whistlejacket is captured in a half rear, has never looked quite right to me, although stunningly beautiful, there was always this "aspect" that didn't look quite right to me. Having a deep admiration of horses since being a child, I could see something was not quite correct. If we assume Whistlejacket was alive, when sketches were drawn to capture the characteristics of him, the pose was not painted from a living horse. I say this because there is no muscle tension in the hind quarters, through the back and under the belly, as there would be if the horse was alive. It was mentioned that George Stubbs drew from cadavers and this particular work took 18 months, with horse cadavers suspended in a barn, giving rise to the image looking like a "puppet without strings" which in effect when the pose is examined closely, is what is painted. Fascinating mini lecture, that I wish I could have attended in person. Thank you National Gallery for making it available for students and enthusiasts alike.

[@caprichosmorales]

This might go to the debt that all of us owe to Eadweard Muybridge's work on photographing horses in action because as is mentioned in the lecture at about 10.04, horses are never still.

[@paillette2010]

As stated below, until stop motion was enabled, no one knew how the faster footfalls, or muscle groups moved. A lot of images show the muscles down and flat like a standing horse, not a horse raising its shoulder to rear.

[@lizzieatherfold2293]

What an absolutely incredible painting of a horse and all the better as he is unfettered

[@westaussie965]

WTF does that mean?

[@59jaguar]

Excellent presentation and speaker.

[@paillette2010]

I remember this and I think of it often. Great talk, thank you.

[@jonesybrom8945]

I loved looking at this picture looking through the doorway from the room opposite

[@JiveDadson]

It bothers me that the tail does not quite fit on the canvas.

[@cindy8994]

Thank you for an excellent talk and some interesting insightful ideas to ponder.

[@williambo5989]

Nature is the true art

[@shamsjain4562]

Thank you for the brilliant narrative about this remarkable painting.

[@dianayanik6302]

I would love to know if later animal artists were inspired by George Stubbs.

[@johnmcalinden3615]

A farrier does not work with gloves, rather there word comes from the French 'fer' which means 'iron'. So a farrier is a smith who works specifically with horses, making and fitting their shoes.

[@goodboybuddy1]

Hadn’t seen your comment. Exactly! An inexcusable error .

[@owowotsthis11]

A horse-cobbler of sorts lol

[@colinhodgson3853]

Legend has it when Stubbs was at Wentworth Woodhouse painting Whistlejacket he moved the painting to get better light & suddenly the groom shouted Watch out sir! When he turned round the horse had dragged the groom off his feet & was trying to attack the painting probably thinking it was a real horse (it was lifesize) Stubbs hit Whistlejacket over the head with his pallet & drove it off until the painting had been moved from the horses view. When I walk past the old stables I swear I can sometimes hear a horse snorting.

[@TheStockwell]

Legend tends to be ridiculous when one considers the facts. This "legend" is extremely unlikely if you consider Stubbs dragging an unfinished - and wet - work this huge out of doors, into the wind and the mud, and creating a drama - with all those wild touches - that no-one spoke of until long after the painting was finished. Stubbs painted in a studio, so Whistlejacket would've had to have be lead into the studio in order to see the work. When a story has dozens of variants, it's likely none of them are true - or were concocted simply to tell a good story.

[@kernowarty]

This painting is shown on a wall in a room in Buckingham palace in 1940 in the movie Darkest Hour about Churchill. Was it in the palace at that time?

[@Celestialkarma]

Thanks for sharing God bless

[@alaricabroadbent9387]

A Ferrier creates and applies the mettle shoes to the horses hooves.

[@ritabiro5105]

I have a standing horse picure inherited from my father i like it unfortunately i didnt have possibility to ride but I enjoyed your explonation.

[@gabriellefagan1014]

Best Stubbs painting in NGV!

[@rotterred991]

Yes, but why Whistlejacket? Oh, okay, a bit of searching led to this useful footnote (from Jane Austen's World blog): "The origin of the name, Whistlejacket, is interesting. In Yorkshire, the local name for the treacle/gin drink was ‘whistle-jacket’. When made with brandy instead of gin, the color of the drink would have resembled the color of this palomino stallion’s coat." Of course, this begs the question, but that's as close as I could get to an explanation regarding the name. I mean, the horse was probably named after the drink due to his rich, brandy-like coat; but, why was the drink named a whistle-jacket? Did one take a sip and immediately let loose a low, long whistle with the comment, "That's a' smoooooth a' me jacket."?

[@JiveDadson]

Palomino? Looks like an Arabian to me.

[@64Alvis]

@@JiveDadson Palomino refers to color: a sort of pale beige with whitish mane and tail. Actually his coat looks to me more like what is called chestnut.

[@sarahmillard6401]

@@64Alvis he was chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, so you’re both right (Arabs are never palomino!)

[@dianayanik6302]

Whistlejacket was named after a popular cough mixture made from treacle and gin. When mixed it was chestnut in colour, like the horse’s coat.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Notice that some races are changing colour due aging.. I'ts not very likely an experienced breeder would name a newly born horse, based on its colour.

[@chloedog47]

I'd easily pay a million for that painting

[@randybackgammon890]

Wish I could!

[@DeborahMarkham-q6r]

You might be a bit short 😅. It was originally sold for £11 million. Worth triple now.

[@Eris123451]

Nonetheless it does seem to me to owe something the friezes from the Parthenon and particularly with that plain background for emphasis ?

[@simonevans343]

Thank god for this picture being "unfinnished" . It would have been ruined by background, let alone being mounted by a king

[@j2fly1]

Horse corse!

[@ItsFrank929]

ok but like why is he pausing after every word?

[@sybil3716]

Honestly I felt a short of breath through this lecture...

[@micky4fun]

Agree. After a while his "stop and go" delivery is distracting, which is a shame as he is very knowledgeable, and the lecture very interesting.

[@kernowarty]

I think that given the space above the horse that it was intended to paint in a background. Otherwise a more square frame would have looked appropriate.

[@JosieB2017]

With the form of the horse suspended in rearing up my eye kept traveling pass Whistlejackets head into this empty space waiting for him to completely extend his motion of movement, waiting for those forelegs to lash out. I think it was a brilliant move on the artist to engage the viewer to see more.

[@sybil3716]

He paused strangely when he spoke...

[@sybil3716]

honestly I felt a short of breath...

[@MrProwler101477]

Insane to think this painting is worth more than the magnificent manor house it Originally displayed it! the Wentworth Woodhouse estate .. the should returned all the original artwork furniture and sculptures back to Wentworth and display it in its original setting as a museum much like the J Paul Getty in Los Angeles Hearst castle..

[@paillette2010]

Not insane at all.

[@JiveDadson]

Oil paintings do not require a lot of upkeep.

[@sarahmillard6401]

That would be a lovely idea, especially as there is a specially designed Whistlejacket Room for it at Wentworth Woodhouse. Perhaps the gallery may consider a short term loan so that it can be seen in its intended setting. However, I’m not sure that there would be much left at all at Hearst Castle if everything there was taken back to their original settings!

[@mytinplaterailway]

He means a Tanner not a Farrier.

[@robbied2113]

Wait Stubbs was drawing pics of horse carcasses for 18 months before he had a commission for drawing horse anatomy? What?

[@veroniqueviaudFaspasie_1957]

He needed to study to know how a horse was looking like. Horses are not humans. They can not wait for one painter to paint them. 😉

[@alaricabroadbent9387]

A Farrier creates & applies the shoes to the horses hooves. He is not a leather worker.

[@dein_cophen8085]

him talking word by word gives me headache

[@ilksenteksoy4008]

ATLAR I MIZ ÖZGÜRDÜR 🇹🇷😍🤗😘

[@OmmerSyssel]

In contrast to Turkish women! We all know what mudslim machos appreciate 🤔🐒

[@makingthegrade824]

The inflection and pace of this curators speech is put together all wrong. It makes it hard to digest the information being kindly offered 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@goodboybuddy1]

A ‘ferrior’ shoes horses.

[@GENRACINGSTABLE]

Yes a "farrier" shoe's horses (I am one) a "currier" cures and works in leather. He def said farrier :)

[@paillette2010]

CURRIER, not FARRIER. Farrier works with Iron/horseshoes.

[@กิตติพงค์คงชู-ม5ป]

Indiana gone thank from picture and yuo tell but picture ...

[@m1cxf]

I would have enjoyed this more if the chap had done some proper research. Farriers don't make gloves! They shoe horses, at that time it would have been an extended role of a blacksmith, this would help to explain why Stubbs had managed to teach himself to etch and engrave. Who is this "Rockingham" he refers to. The Marquess of Rockingham is a position, not a name. It is like refer to the vicar of Dibley as Dibley. The persons name was Charles Watson-Wentworth.

[@Capricosm]

Smart arse .

[@TheStockwell]

I assume you lash out at historians when they refer to Wellington.

[@sarahmillard6401]

@@TheStockwell too true - same as Buckingham, Marlborough, Strafford (the original holder of the Wentworth estate), Leicester, Burghley, Essex, Norfolk, etc etc. Publicly, noble titles trump personal names and the holders are often just known by the place name in their titles.

[@TheStockwell]

@@sarahmillard6401 The habit of referring to people by their titles isn't new. Shakespeare uses the seats of power as familiar names in the Crispin's Day speech in "Henry V": "Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words- Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester - Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red." I'm an American living in rural Vermont - and even I know this stuff! ☺ Have a safe and interesting weekend. 🐧

[@sarahmillard6401]

@@TheStockwellindeed - the Leicester, Burghley, Essex and Norfolk I referred to were all famous in the reign of Elizabeth I (although of course there have been others before and since!). And think about (Lord) Lucan more recently, I bet there are few who would know him as John Bingham.

[@ilksenteksoy4008]

🇹🇷😍🤗🤗🤗🤗💖💖

[@bananana2624]

i...talk...with...too....many....evenly....spaced....pauses....

[@libra6411]

Ha...Ha....Ha..............

[@melissakrumholt1099]

Bana Nana, it is a little distracting!

[@CastelDawn]

don't...laugh....it's...a....remarkable....robot...model...

[@cart172]

Yeah, he did a talk on my favourite painting (Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump) and his talking style was a bit jarring...

[@veroniqueviaudFaspasie_1957]

At least strangers like me ( from France) have enough time to understand him. 😂😂

[@alexbrooks1468]

Currier - ie leather dresser. Not farrier.

[@stevebuk100]

Chap sounds like a Robot with his paused speech..

[@OscarBehagel]

paardje

[@geertverschueren7857]

the staccato way of talking is really tiresome

[@sanniepstein4835]

Stubbs' horses are wonderful, but no, they are not real or individual horses. They are as stylized as fashion illustration.

[@agabrielhegartygaby9203]

I feel sad looking at the head especially the eyes, I see a horse in a state of fear. Too much white. Not to say this is not an amazing and beautiful work but free happy wild are not attributes of this unfortunate horse. (A horsey person since age five more than for more than 5 decades) G ps lovely presentation

[@kathleenboyle8652]

the movement is WHAT is Speaking to people ..its a portrait so it owuld b like a Photo so the horse is beautiful 4 real...but what the artist is portraying an appeals to people is the "movement htis guy is a gas bag...

[@ladyrotha5420]

What a dreadfully robotic speaker.... 🤖 wholly unable to capture the attention of an audience. The painting is glorious, however.

[@owowotsthis11]

The way he talks kinda bothers me, the pattern is fustrating

[@jillyc8589]

He's probably a human being. It's not easy to give a lecture without any notes.

[@vaughangarrick]

Am I the only that finds horse names stupid. Especially at the races. "And here comes anthrax 59 into the lead...."

[@OmmerSyssel]

Most horses doesn't care that much anyway... Taste isn't influenced either 😋🥩🍴🍺

[@Ai-he1dp]

Of course it's finished as Stubbs intended...what artist would complicate things totally by painting the foreground first to such a beautiful standard then put in the background?...what idiots came up with such an idea?

[@baochau1621]

many artists do that actually! they would paint the main focus first then let the other artists, who work for them in a workshop for example, paint the rest :-)

[@Ai-he1dp]

@@baochau1621 major artist would do only the faces or as you say the important? parts, but last not first for obvious reasons.