Critique on ‘a lion attacking a horse’ by george stubbs by emily bridget essay sample

Stubbs has chosen to place the main subject in the center foreground along with the other objects in the background and painted around the edges, such as trees and bushes. There are clouds in the sky, unlike a sun which would create some kind of happiness within the artwork, but this is not what George Stubbs was aiming for. Along the ground, there is grass too. With all of these things in mind, it creates a bushy scene.

‘ A Lion Attacking a Horse’ has been painted using care and precision along with plenty of focus. There’s a lot of detailing, especially within the horses body. Using thin lines, the details appearing along the horses neck and legs, are more easily seen.

There is not a huge amount of principle within this art work but the design elements form part of a sequence to create , at least some, unity. The art work contains a deep type of space as you can see for miles into the painting while looking at the main subject still. George Stubbs has created the illusion of space by using less detail in the background and more on the main subject, the horse.

The most significant design elements in ‘ A Lion Attacking a Horse’ are colour and tone. Colour has been shown by using harmonious colours in the back ground while the main subject has the opposite colour to it’s surroundings creating a visual sensation for the viewer as their eyes are drawn to it. Tone has been formed throughout the horse’s body where the muscles become nervous. It’s neck, legs and stomach have very specific detailing using tone so that you can see where the muscles are and you start to learn that the horse is stressed and in pain while the lion sinks it’s teeth into the horse.

In creating ‘ A Lion Attacking a Horse’, George Stubbs’ intention was to capture images in nature, ie. The horse and the lion. He was also aiming to tell a story, about the lion attacking the horse. Stubbs wanted a reaction the viewer by painting a picture that gave a personal interpretation of the subject. He was into horses and horse anatomy, so it’s no surprise that he painted something like this.

The major influence on Stubbs in the production of the work were the historical climate in whish the artwork was created, because around the time he was painting this, 1765, other artists were also painting content like this with the same theme, war and nature.

Natasha Rossington expresses her opinion on George Stubbs. “ He has excellent use of the skill in the medium.” Others, such as Isabel Hockley, have said ‘ A Lion Attacking a Horse’ is well painted but they don’t like the content. Furthermore, Corinda Ferguson doesn’t like it all because it looks inappropriate.

After researching this painting, exploring George Stubbs’ background and learning what others have to say, I’m glad to say I’ve discovered more than I could imagine.

Wikipedia. com, http://www. uh. edu/engines/epi906. htm