This ethereal, soft watercolor appears to be the compositional study for a watercolor commission of the same title produced for William Walters (CR# 448A). The horse in the middle fore-front is highlighted with white. In the finished work, this commanding figure is solid white. The difference is important in 19th century painting in that a wild, white stallion from the open prairies of the West symbolized the freedom and independence of the American spirit and was perceived of as an emblem of the nation’s potency and vigor.
The artist; by descent to Alfred J. Miller Jr., Baltimore; [M. Knoedler and Company, New York, NY, 1948]; Thomas Gilcrease, Tulsa, OK; present owner by gift
