Announcing This Year’s Official Race Day Artist
Historically, Sporting Art grew out of the desire to chronicle events and bloodlines. Art critics have long placed the painter of horses on a lower pedestal, but I say, ignore them. There is a poetry to be found in the look and feel of it all and I believe it is one of the best subjects a painter could find, one that constantly challenges and surprises. It combines my love of painting the landscape, portraits and figures, and best of all, has introduced me to a world of remarkable people and events, and a culture to which I could contribute. I came to the subject by way of a portrait commission for a Master of a local hunt. I thought I should go out to see what it was all about and that was all it took; I found a pageant, a sport, a pastime.
(Editor’s Note: this is similar to the experience of renowned sporting artist A.J. Munnings. He says of his first trip to the Races: “I saw the thoroughbred horses and jockeys in bright silk colours going off down the course. The peaceful School of Art, the smelly artists’ room at Page Brothers faded away and I began to live!”)
Meet The Artist
Foxhunting was my focus at first, which lead me to point to points, and in turn to the world of the thoroughbred in Maryland. Breeding operations, racing barns, early works, tracks and backstretches all offered up rich subject matter and continuing interest. At length, I proposed an “Official Artist” relationship to the National Steeplechase Association and they graciously took me up on it. This has led to annual covers of the American Steeplechasing yearbook, and an annual show in support of the association. Of all the variety of events, my favorite is the informal country point to point in the early spring, attended by the connections of the runners that day, and the hosting hunt club.
For races, my habit is to work on location, most often at the paddock. I set up a small easel and work quickly in gouache, making fast impressions of the scene. I keep a camera handy and take a walk around to gather useful shots for studio work later. Friendly photographers are a source of additional reference material; there is just too much happening to cover it all. For hunt meets, I like to follow with a camera, but also make time to set up and sketch the overall scene. It all requires a quick approach, which I favor in painting. Rapid brushwork, broad effects and attention to form and light are the keys to good results. Expression without description is my aim, to make the suggestion of any particular feature look just right without fussy detail.
But I regard the subject as broader than just the races and meets. The setting is the country and indeed the people who make it work. I make informal portraits of the large cast of characters, and views of the farms and woods. The style and attire have their flavor, as do the homes and furnishings. It’s a scene! My studio and home are in a pair of Victorian carpenter gothic buildings on the remainder of an old family estate in the Greenspring Valley of Baltimore County, Maryland, a short drive from where we run the Maryland Hunt Cup. Inspiration is out the front door, and I paint my wife’s garden and our home as often as anything else. My artistic calendar runs parallel to the racing and hunting seasons, busy in the spring and fall, with time in the summer and winter to catch up on the commissions and studio projects in hand.
— Sam Robinson, Artist
