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HORSE PORTRAITURE IN AMERICA Ifie Old Turf Register Engravings Mr Casinos Series of 80 Mr MrTroyes Troyes Masterpieces Grey Eagle and Wagner Boston and andFashion Fashion Glencoe and Kentucky Reel and Asteroid and andOphelia Ophelia Mr Harry Stalls Great Collection Spendthrift Spendthriftand and Sensation Hindoo and Pontiac Elkwood and andSalvator Salvator Virgie and Eurus Captain Lloyd LloydMr Mr Forbes Mr Scott and Mr Sanguinetti SanguinettiBy By W S VOSBURGH Race horse pictures in America date back nearly a hundred years The old Turf Register and Sport ¬ ing Magazine published engravings of all the noted thoroughbreds of the time some of which copies of Mr Troyes paintings were quite good but from 1845 to 18 18r r occasional jwrtralts in oil and wood ¬ cuts in The Spirit of the Times were the only means of preserving the features or the few cracks that appeared appearedIn In 1808 I think it was Mr Troye issued a pro spectus of a series of pictures copies of his joint ¬ ings by subscription But it was abandoned for need of patronage patronageIn In 1880 Mr Casino of Boston issued a set of colored plates copies of Stull and other artists which included Hindoo Leamington Luke Black ¬ burn Thora Parole Nevada and the leading trot ¬ ters of the period Meanwhile The Spirit of the Times and Sportsman in New York and the Horse ¬ man in Chicago illustrated their front pages with pictures of the prominent trotters and racers racersMr Mr E Troye painted all the racing celebrities up to 1870 and several of his portraits adorn the rooms of the Jockey Club in New York Boston and Lexington Wagner and Grey Eagle Reel Lightning Glencoe Scythian Kentucky Asteroid Albion Fashion Peytona Tranby and Monarch sill claimed the honor of his brush and palette Mr Troye is generally considered Americas great artist Jf his pictures had any defect it was a tendenci tojnako hiff hrtr Jnifica lighter bt Iowtfi kneL flian is natural His Boston is rather coarse but his Lex ¬ ington is better In a matter where other artists have failed Mr Troye excelled namely delineating a gray horse His Reality the grandani of Fashion and his Ophelia the greatgreatgraiidam of Hanover a beautiful gray mare were his hap ¬ piest efforts particularly Ophelia which rather dissipated the idea that her sire Wild Medley was unknown which the late Capt Merry recklessly reported on the authority of an irre ¬ sponsible gossip Mr Troye accompanied the late A Keene Richards in a journey through the east and his collection of pictures of the Arab and Barb horses was quite extensive extensiveMr Mr Henry Stull who died in 1913 painted more pictures of race horses than any other American artist He was I think selftaught and began to make sketches early in the seventies His first horse was Fiddlestick but he subsequently painted nearly every noted horse of his era Elkwood the Subur ¬ ban winner of 1888 was perhaps his best work as a likeness and well it might be as lie was an inti ¬ mate friend of the owner and saw the horse almost daily Stalls picture of Spendthrift recalls to us pleasant recollections of n trip we made one win ¬ ter morning of 79 when the snow laid hcsivily over the Jersey meadows and icicles hung by the wall and milk came frozen home in the pail to inspect the newly arrived crack at Rutherford N J Sensations picture too recalls pleasant memories of the same year but it was wasWhen When May with her cap crowned with roses Stands in holiday dress in the fields and daisies pied and violets blue spenghd the Jerome Park meadows as the brown and unbeaten champion of tlie blue and orange with the rolling eye and crooked blaze caused a panic among the trainers when he was asked to concede his year and two pounds to Monitor over the T Y C and did it without turning a hair hairMR MR STULLS PROLIFIC CANVAS CANVASMr Mr Stalls was a most prolific canvas Pontiac the sprinter that won a Suburban black and bloodlike Rsiceland high iii bone and low in flesh Elkwood of the sour visage with his ears pinned back as they always were when lie heard the voice of Fitzpatrick his jockey Montana another Sub ¬ urban winner whose appearance hardly riierited Green Morris description that ere old camel Hindoo long and weak in the back Eurus short backed and sturdy all awaken a host of recol ¬ lections Salvators was an excellent picture but Mr Stull rather failed with Firenze Domino made a fine picture artd so did Lcohatus Of stallions I Virgie was Mr Stulls best We have heard the criticism that his pictures had top much similarity to each other That can be said of almost any artist The connoisseur of paintings can usually identify the artist by his style just as they can si mans style in composition Did not the major general in the Pirates of Penzance assure us he could couldTell Tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Downs and Zoffanies ZoffaniesBut But while we have heard his outlines criticised we never heard anything said against his Coloring He painted bay horses with greater accuracy as regards color than ally other artist And there are so many different shades of bay among horses There is the brownbay or almost brown the deep fiery redbay the sherrybay the yellowbay and the buckskinbay approaching a dun I have iieard horses described as claret bay Then there is a shade of bay when the horse would readily pass for si chestnut were it not that lie has a black mane tail and legs Indeed the color of horses is a subject upon which people differ considerably as I have recently had reason to know Yet I have rarely found Mr Stulls pictures to fail in re ¬ producing the color of the animal he painted paintedMr Mr Stull was a man possessing a keen sense of humor and a ready wit His friend Mr Nicholls of The Spirit of the Times happened to remark remarkYouve Youve grown heavier than ever since last season seasonIm Im a year older now observed Stull StullSo So am I resiwnded Mr Nicholls but I dont put on weight as I grow older olderNo No Nick replied Stull you ara like a good rcsiny old race horses you cant carry weightfor ¬ age ageShow Show your badges gents is the steady cry of one of the gatemen at the entrance of all the race courses One day Stull and some friends were passing through the gate when one of them re ¬ marked markedThat That gatcman is gallant He never asks the ladies to show their badges its always Show your badges gents He doesnt mean uentlemen he means Gentiles rcpliedStull 7 Mr ptull badf aa artist friend Mr C Cr = r painter of landscapes Knowing Mr Stulls ac ¬ quaintance with wealthy turfmen he had asked Stull to recommend him to one of them in hope of obtaining an order orderVery Very well said Stull IU1 see what he says How saysHow can you see what he says queried Mr C pointHe thinking he had made a point He uses figures of speech was Stulls ready rejoinder rejoinderBut Stnllone But Mr C had his inning Meeting Stnll one day on a Fifth avenue block noted for its millionaire residents lie assumed a look of inno ¬ cence inquiredDo but with some irony inquired Do you live on this block blockNo No replied Stull I live on food foodCongratulate Congratulate you returned Mr C for an artist anartist youre doing pretty well wellIn In Moquins restaurant in Fulton street there was a French waiter named Frank who used to wait upon our table and most attentively But he had a motive It soon developed that he played the races and had become possessed with the idea that Stull was in the know of all the good things of Mr Belmont and Mr Lorillard for whom lie patnted pictures and was forever begging tipBetter for a tip Better keep your money Frank wsis Stulls advice adviceMerci Merci monsieur answered Frank but ze tip ze good ting Ef you jgiTjne ze tip JLplay hirn irJwfe You gir me sinbderTT play him Fwin All ze time Tres bien I play all what you call him double up I win Pourqubi I have more money EnglandThat as ze King of England That would msike a French Franc k worth more StullFrank than an English sovereign remarked Stull Frank laughed but it was evident that he did not see the joke and it is doubtful if he ever did didIn In a cigar store on Nassau street kept by a grave and elderly Spaniard Stull was in a merry mood and whenever the Spaniard would specially recommend SenorYou a cigar Stull would renly Si Senor SpaniardYes You sneak Spanish asked the Spaniard Yes said Stull I can say Si Senor and Si Senorita too if necessary And necessaryAnd is that all the Spanish you can speak asked smileOh the Spaniard with an amused smile Oh no responded Stull I can say Concha Regalia Colorado Claro Colorado Maduro and Hoyo de MontereyUp Monterey Up went the Spaniards shoulders and Pouf the repliedI names of cigars he replied I once attended the poultry show with Mr Stull when he became interested in poultry fixtures at the stand of one of the firms which are always at such shows The salesman was an Irishman who seemed somethingWhat bent upon selling us something StullThat What is jthat thing V inquired Stull That Shure it do be a brooder sor replied the Irishman evidently surprised at the question A questionA brooder eh and whats a brooder asked Stull playing ignorance ignorancePhats Phats a brooder Phat indade Dont ye know knowNo No what is it for forAN AN ARTIFICIAL MOTHER MOTHERTew Tew kape t loittle chickens warriun shuns its an artificial mother motherHave StullThe Have you an artificial father asked Stull The question was too much for that Irishman He stood for a moment regarding Stull with a look of despair despairPhat askedIt Phat sort o a man are you he asked It was at the races on one occasion that si horse with a blaze face and white legs behsived badly when going to the post rearing and plunging As usual suspicious people began to talk of the use of stimulants done that he was illuminated etc I never saw that horse act as badlv as that before Didnt you notice that he was full of fire asked a friend friendOh Oh yes replied Stull lie even has a blaze in bis face faceCapt Capt Lloyd wsis one of our early artists and worked more with the pencil than the brush His pictures of the deadheaters for the Saratoga Cup of 1875 Springbok and Preakness while possibly they lacked finish were good likenesses of the horses both of which possessed great individuality Capt Lloyds Kingfisher was good and his Tom Ochiltree excellent His Aristides hardly as good as it did scant justice to the beautiful little red horse which showed his heels to the much vaunted Ten Broeck The captains picture of Leamington was however his masterpiece as he presented the brown hero of Chestnut Hill in one of his character ¬ istic attitudes head erect and neighing defiance to all comers as he used to do when John Me Closkey would lead him out to woo Maggie 15 B Susan MegaraMr Beane or Megara Mr Edwin Forbes wsis a popular artist during the early seventies Racers trotters cattle and sheep gave him many opiwrtunities for illustrations for the sporting and agricultural papers It was about 1870 that he drew a picture of Lexington which possessed more character than any of the numerous pictures we have seen of that horse The famous old horse stands in his stable with Ills pail before him from which he has eaten his mash He looks round and hearty as he raises his head and pokes it forward in a msinner so many of his sons did when we saw them in training particularly Monarchist Preakness Lancaster and Kingfisher all of which resembled him while his sons Wan ¬ derer Uncas Foster and Harry Bassett did not at least not so strikingly Mr Forbes also fin ¬ ished pictures of Warminster Glenelg Preakncss Leamington SpringbokMr and Springbok Mr Scott painted quite a number of racing cracks during the seventies Hsirry Bassett wsis the greatest horse lie ever painted and it was his worst picture Bodily it was good but it gave the horse a woodenlegged appearance which was especially unfortunate as Harry Bassett was a highbred looking horse Mr Scotts Tom Bowling was much better and his picture of Kentucky was pronounced an excellent likeness Mr Sanguinettis one contribution to racing por ¬ traiture was his picture A Race Day at Jerome Park and it is not only a highly creditable effort but has preserved for the present and future generations the scene of the cradle of metropolitan Continued on second page HORSE PORTRAITURE IN AMERICA C ouHnued from first page racing The horses Creenland George McCullough Parole Neufclmtel Startle etc are fighting out u finish in the stretcli while in the background looms the beautiful wooded bluff and clubhouse and Ixlow the four inhands are parked as they were in those gowl old days The principal fault of artists who delineate race horses is a tendency to exaggerate conspicuous peculiarities Thin if ahorse has a tapering head it is made tapering almost to deformity if he is high at the withers his picture shows his withers higher than in nature if his back is long it is made longer if he droops behind the croup he is de ¬ picted with a conformation such as is seen on a pacer This has the effect of causing critics to remark upon the impossibility of such points as indeed the horse may Stubbs picture of Otalolphin Arabian is often criticised as having an imM ssibIe crested neck but I remember seeing Dalnacardoeh by Ratuplan at Chestnut Hill in the flLsh and he had as massive a crest as Godolphin iii the picture Alarm too had developed an amazing crest the last time I saw him I think in 1SSS Photography has quite superseded the brush and canvas and Mr Hailey of Newmarket and Mr Rouch of London have shown some excellent work Beadsman the Derby winner of 1S5S was I understand the first racer photographed but I have havea a copy t one of Gladiatenr taken in ISIiG which shows the hump on his back just as Harry Hall had shown it in his drawing Of course a photo Jjjfaph photoJjjfaph represents a perfect reflection of the horse but it lacks the spirit of real life which an ac ¬ complished artist of the brush or pencil can por ¬ tray The photograph takes a picture of the horse horseas as he happens to stand the artist draws the horse iiiiSUch a pose as he should have in order to look his best The painting or drawing has that felicity of poe which the photograph rarely has and that sjiorting flavor in its surroundings and background that the old artists like Hall and Troye loved to produce in their pictures pictures which had the most heart in them as Mr Itiiskin said of Tur ¬ ners pictures of Yorkshire scenery sceneryBut But photograhy has made great progress Pach was the first to photograph race horses I have one of hisuf Helmbold the great cup horse of 1870 taken that year at Long Branch N J It is cloudy and crude lint since then Pach has produced some fiije pictures Henimet for a long period made photographs of horses as did Marx and later Cook Cookdid did quite a lot of it Schreiber of Philadelphia in 187 took pictures of Lexington Planet Asteroid AsteroidAustralian Australian Ixihgfellow etc and his work was really the first that could lie called artistic Jenks and Mcllure of I xington have both given excel leiit photograplM
