Horses are creatures in danger of extinction. Although in the beginning of the nineteenth century, futurists predicted that the greatest problem of the twentieth century would be clearing all the piles of horse manure from the city streets, they did not foresee that the invention of the train, and of the automobile afterwards, would significantly, even drastically, reduce the human race’s need for horses as a means of transportation and shipping. In the history of war up until the Renaissance, heavily armored weapon-bearing riders, on horseback, were the most intimidating weapon on the battlefield. Aristocratic family members have always ridden horses, and this practice is considered a ‘status symbol’. As it turns out, there are no true aristocrats among us, so we have not been honored even with this privilege. A true leader would rule first and foremost from his horse, thus the expression: “to hold the reigns of power”.
Galloping #621 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 60 x 80 cm
" For me, every day of creation brings small surprises and eventually a process of 'liberation’, but it is more accurate to call it : the inner journey to explore my truth. "
Beverly Barkat
Untitled #610 | Charcoal on canvas 2022 | 112 x 230 cm
Beverly Barkat, 'Galloping' exhibition - Rothschild Fine Art
Photography: Michael Amar
In her investigations and observations, Beverly Barkat often directs her gaze back in time to ancient times, and in two cases - ‘The Regal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal King of Assyria’ and ‘Horses of San Marco’ in Venice – she sees them not just as iconic images, but also as basic allegories for the representation of the horse in art history.
San Marco | #608 | Charcoal and oil paint on newspaper 2022
112 x 74 cm
Assyrian Horses | #598 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 59.5 x 165 cm
Shachar | #589 | Oil on canvas 2022
25.4 x 30 cm
Wind 1 | #592 | Oil on canvas 2022
25.4 x 30 cm
Wind 2 | #618 | Charcoal on paper 2022
25.4 x 30 cm
Ayelet | #588 | Oil on canvas 2022
25.4 x 30 cm
Rosa | #597 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 90 x 180 cm
Steve-Alia | #620 | Oil on canvas 2022
25.4 x 30 cm
One of the paintings in the present exhibition is a horse named ‘Steve-Alia’ which is living and kicking here, among us, in a Galilean village. This is an especially noble Arabian horse, as demonstrated by its beauty, its upright, attentive ears and even its intelligent glance. This horse seems conscious of its status as a kind of ‘prince’ – the offspring of noble animals brought from Morocco to England 200 years ago, used to enhance the breed of the English horses, which were inferior to the Arabian horses. Barkat painted the foliage behind ‘Steve’ in a less focused manner - intensifying the painting’s sense of depth.
One of the surprises in Beverly Barkat’s exhibition is the horse relief. Barkat, who throughout the years has tried her hand at many different artistic techniques such as ceramics, glassblowing and more, challenges herself this time with relief sculpture. Relief is a type of art form which stands between painting and sculpture: firstly, it usually is not colorful like painting; secondly, it is affixed to the support, the background panel; and thirdly it is not completely three-dimensional like sculpture. The meaning of all this is that creating the illusion of horses protruding outwards and galloping forwards in a relief is a major challenge. And Barkat meets this challenge well. In relief, natural games of light and shadow are an important part of our understanding of the work and the enjoyment we derive from observing it. All of these indeed occur in Barkat’s horse relief.
Untitled #611 Concrete cast relief 2022
|
41.5x51cm
Untitled #606 | Charcoal on paper 2022 | 41 x 76.5 cm
Untitled #607 | Charcoal on paper 2022 | 57 x 76.5 cm
Wind and Tzur | #599 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 111.5 x 184.5 cm
" The horses are just beautiful! I was attracted to the structure, character, and movement; I found strength and power, softness, delicacy, and the ability to accelerate - all these in one animal.It is fascinating following the rhythm and the music of a galloping horse, the vibration created in the air around him. I wanted to get into the horse's physicality and feel what it felt. "
Beverly Barkat
ADDITIONAL ARTWORKS
Untitled #602 | Charcoal on oil painted canvas 2022 | 112 x 230 cm
Untitled #623 Oil on canvas 2022 | 80 x 230 cm
Kochav | #586 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 25.4 x 30.5 cm
Untitled #590 Oil on canvas 2022 | 25.4 x 30 cm
Untitled #587 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 25.4 x 30.5 cm
Untitled #591 Oil on canvas 2022 | 25.4 x 30 cm
Untitled #615 Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #617 Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #601 Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #613 Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #612 | Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #616 | Charcoal on paper 2022 | 45.7 X 61 cm Drawing size 28 x 57 cm
Untitled #593 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 30.5 x 25.4 cm
Untitled #595 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 40 x 50 cm
Untitled #596 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 50 x 40 cm
Untitled #594 | Oil on canvas 2022 | 30.5 x 25.4 cm
Untitled #603 | Charcoal on paper 2022 |
131 x 81 cm
Untitled #604| Charcoal on paper 2022 |
131 x 81 cm
Untitled #605 Watercolour on paper 2022 |
26 x 18 cm
Untitled #609 | pencil on paper 2022 |
21.5 x 28 cm
Beverly Barkat, 'Galloping' exhibition - Rothschild Fine Art
Photography: Michael Amar