24 Hour Museum - official guide to UK museums, galleries, exhibitions and heritage
Gateway to Over 3,000 UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions
Skip to navigation
Massive Stubbs Horse Painting Heads To York For Race Season
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
22/04/2008
Image: a painting of a chestnut horse rearing on its hind legs
George Stubbs, Whistlejacket. © National Gallery London
One of the most iconic horse paintings in British art will be unveiled this weekend in York for the first time.
Whistlejacket, a life size oil painting of a racehorse by George Stubbs, has been lent to York Art Gallery by the National Gallery as the centrepiece in the exhibition Stubbs and Whistlejacket in York, which opens on Saturday April 26 2008.
The exhibition includes other significant Stubbs works and coincides with the racing season at York Racecourse, where Whistlejacket won his most famous race nearly 250 years ago.
“You can’t help but be inspired by Whistlejacket; its sheer size and Stubbs’ brilliant attention to detail sets it aside as one of the most special works by a British artist,” said Jennifer Alexander, assistant curator of art at York Art Gallery. “We are delighted that it is coming to York, the city where Whistlejacket made his name, especially during the racing season.”
“The piece on its own is magnificent, but together with the other works from our collection and loans from the likes of the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Academy, the exhibition will be very special indeed.”
The huge and impressive picture was painted around 1762 for the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Whistlejacket’s owner and a great patron of Stubbs. It is thought that Rockingham paid 60 guineas for the portrait.
Stubbs spent many years living in York, even marrying in the city. The exhibition, which runs until August 31 2008, will also include works that show York and the racecourse as it would have been in Stubbs’ time.
York Art Gallery
York Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, York, YO1 7EW, North Yorkshire, England
Open: Open daily 10:00am -5:00pm
Closed: Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day
Related Articles
News In Brief - Week Endinig August 3 2008
George Stubbs And Whistlejacket At York City Art Gallery
News In Brief - Week Ending January 13 2008
MGM 2006 - Drawing From Life, William Etty At York Art Gallery
Three Art Galleries Across Yorkshire Celebrate Ceramics
Enter The Enchanted Forest At York Art Gallery This Summer
Refurbishment And Reflections: York Art Gallery Re-Opens
E-news registration
E-mail story to a friend
Tell us what you think
Laser Technology Helps Visually Impaired Enjoy Thornton Abbey
News In Brief - Museums, Galleries And Heritage News
Choirs To Interpret Exhibitions With Song At National Media Museum
English Heritage 'Appalled' By Go-Ahead For Doon Tower
Ashmolean Museum Purchases Rare 18th-Century Indian Chintz
Bill Bryson Endorses New Bournemouth Heritage Web Project
RPS Digital Photography Prize Rewards Innovative Under-25s
Bodleian Library To Preserve Digital Material For The Future
Public Art Couple's First Anniversary Celebrated By The People Of Newbiggin By The Sea
Newcastle's Roman Burials Will Reveal More Than Just Bones
Enniskillen Castle Keeps Visitors Impressed During Major Refurbishment
Speedway Hero's Story Told By Museum In Manchester
£3 Million To Be Invested In New Museum Research Projects
Longlist Announced For The Second Northern Art Prize
Tullie House Museum Engages Kids With Online Story Writing Project
Mayor And Museum Make Plans For Weston-Super-Mare Pier
Stonehenge Proposals Go On Show At Wiltshire Heritage Museum
Ally Wallace Artist In Residence For Victoria Baths Manchester
Search this site
Home Page
News Page
Exhibition Page
What's On
Trails Page
Website of the Week
Letters Page
Welsh Home
Graphical Version
Copyright © 24 Hour Museum
Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.