Footnotes

Provenance
With Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, where acquired by the present owner
Private Collection, South Africa

Literature
Jill Willder (ed.), Elisabeth Frink Sculpture Catalogue Raisonné, Salisbury, 1984, pp.188-9, cat.no.241 (ill.b&w., another cast)
Annette Ratuszniak (ed.), Elisabeth Frink, Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture 1947-93, Lund Humphries, London, 2013, p.139, cat.no.FCR271 (ill.b&w, another cast)


'The horse sculptures are nothing to do with the horses you see here in England – the hunter, the showhorse, the racehorse. They're much more to do with the ancient spirit of the horse and with this its evolution in relation to man. The animals I make are far more what I feel for them than what they are in real life. I'm imprecise about the muscles ... I'm much more interested in the spirit of the animal. I get into the inside of the animal, and the outside takes care of itself.' (Annette Ratuszniak (ed.), Elisabeth Frink, Catalogue Raisonné of Sculpture 1947-93, Lund Humphries, London, 2013, p.124).

Frink's affection for horses stemmed from her country childhood in Suffolk; her father was a brilliant horseman, a good polo player and an amateur jockey, which may well have added to an enthusiasm which continued throughout her life. Frink though stated 'The fact that I was brought up with horses and taught to ride at an early age had no bearing on the horses I did in France. Those came about because I discovered the Camargue. I actually bought a horse, not having ridden myself for years – I bought one for my son to ride. So then I had a horse about. I used to go down to the Camargue and ride with the local cowboys.' (Ibid., p.118).

The Camargue horses are characterised by their large head, slight size, long limbs and small wide-set ears. They live in semi-feral conditions in the wild marshes and wetlands, where the local Gardian 'cowboys' use them to herd the black Camargue bulls, used for bullfighting in the southern region of France. Traditionally the (now protected) wild white horses are pictured galloping through the shallow waters, conjuring up a majestic and romantic image, which relates to Frink's strong and elegant depiction of the animal in the present lot.