Enrique de Soria Santa Cruz

ENRIQUE DE SORIA SANTA CRUZ (Spain, active between 1884-1892).
"Horse in the stable", 1904.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 25 x 40 cm; 31 x 46 cm (frame).

This work is inspired by a genre very developed in the England of the XIX century, the paintings starring horses in costumbristas environments, described with a special detail, which are actually portraits of real animals. For this reason, this type of work usually presents, as we see here, a clear, simple and classic composition, with the animal in profile in the center, at a large size, in a landscape or interior setting (usually a stable). In these works, the painter's attention is always focused on the description of the animal's anatomy, the warm glow of its coat, its proud bearing, as if it were a portrait of an important personage.