Whistlejacket, by George Stubbs

George Stubbs (1724-1806) is renowned as the greatest of all painters of the horse, and other animals, although he was also a highly accomplished portrait painter of people. His skill at accurate portrayal derived not only from his talents as an artist but from his lifelong interest in anatomy, both of humans and horses.

Born in Liverpool on 25^th August 1724, George Stubbs followed his father’s trade as a currier (a worker in leather goods) while also teaching himself to draw and later to paint. He combined his painting with the study of human anatomy, which included dissection. From 1756 he was able to extend these studies to include horses, and he spent some 18 months dissecting horses, stripping away layer after layer of skin and muscle until he came to the skeleton, all the while drawing and making notes.

Stubbs applied his acquired knowledge to portraits of horses and their owners, riders and grooms, for which there was a regular demand from the aristocratic horse-racing and hunting fraternity. He died on 10^th July 1806 at the age of 81.

Whistlejacket

“Whistlejacket” is one his earliest horse portraits, dating from 1762. It was commissioned by Charles Watson-Wentworth, the 2^nd Marquess of Rockingham, who would later serve as Prime Minister for two short periods. A receipt dated 30^th December 1762, for 80 guineas, specifies two paintings, one of which was described as “a horse large as life”, which certainly describes the Whistlejacket picture.

Whistlejacket was clearly a favourite horse of the Marquess of Rockingham, whose main interests were horseracing and gambling and who was a noted patron of the turf. The horse was foaled in 1749 and raced between 1752 and 1759 when he was retired to stud, having been beaten only four times in his career. He featured in another 1762 painting by Stubbs, namely “Whistlejacket and Two Other Stallions with Simon Cobb”.

The painting is notable for being a lifesize portrait, the canvas measuring 115 by 97 inches (292 by 246.4 centimetres). Whistlejacket stands on his hind legs with the front feet raised off the ground. His head is turned towards the viewer with a wild expression in his eye. This is a horse with attitude!

There is a mystery about this painting in that it might originally have been intended to be an equestrian portrait of King George III, who had come to the throne in 1760, but that the Marquess of Rockingham, a Whig, changed his mind when the King favoured the Tories and took actions with which Rockingham profoundly disagreed. The picture therefore stayed as a portrait just of the horse. It is a good story, but there are problems with it, one being why it would have been thought suitable for a portrait of a king on horseback to feature him riding a famous racehorse!

Another good reason for leaving the horse without a rider was that the picture was a superb portrayal of the Marquess’s horse, showing his conformation perfectly with his coat shining and his unplaited mane and tail reflecting the light. A rider on his back would have obscured part of the horse and detracted from the portrait. It is noteworthy that most of Stubbs’s portraits of celebrated horses show them riderless and unsaddled, often held by a groom.

A further question is why the picture has no background. Stubbs was adept at painting landscapes and skies with clouds, and many of his paintings put the subjects in context with parkland scenery as a background. However, it may have been thought in this case that a background would detract from Whistlejacket himself. It does not appear that the picture is unfinished because there are shadows behind the horse’s hind feet, which Stubbs would not have painted had he intended to add a background. The same is true of the other painting of Whistlejacket referred to earlier.

As mentioned above, Whistlejacket was clearly a highly spirited horse who was full of life. He was not an easy subject to paint, and was described by Stubbs as being “remarkably unmanageable”. During his final “sitting” a stable-boy was leading Whistlejacket backwards and forwards in the stable yard when Stubbs placed the painting against a wall so that he could get a proper look at it. Whistlejacket caught sight of his portrait and, seeing a rival stallion, charged at it, dragging the stable-boy with him. Stubbs and the boy had a struggle to prevent Whistlejacket from attacking the “other horse” and destroying the picture.

“Whistlejacket” was acquired by the National Gallery (London) in 1997, and it is now a prominent feature of Room 34.

© John Welford