Conformation and the Parade Ring · The Conformation
Horses Fighting
George Stubbs, undated · watercolour, gouache, and pen and black ink
What it is
Two grey stallions fight beneath a great tree, one rearing to bite the other’s neck; George Stubbs worked the sheet in watercolour, gouache and pen and black ink.
Why it matters
It is the horse with no rider and no owner, as Stubbs studied it: muscle, temper and weight.
What to notice
The fine hatching builds the shadows the way an engraver would, and the left horse plants its hind feet to take the blow.
Two tempers, one clearing.
Provenance
- Maker
- George Stubbs, undated
- Era
- The Georgian Turf (1750–1837)
- Chapter
- The Yard Wakes
- Medium
- watercolour, gouache, and pen and black ink
- Made
- 1806
- Source
- Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection · via Wikimedia Commons
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the work’s own year of publication. Cleared by registry on 2026-11-01. Wikimedia Commons licence tag, read 2026-11-01: PD-Art|PD-old-100-1923|deathyear=1806. The maker died in 1806. Year for the gate, from the record: undated; the maker’s death year is used as the ceiling.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 27x41" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
More from the Stable Wall
Elsewhere in the family
- The Links — the other morning religion.
- Painted Lineage — the bloodline, beside the family line.
- Painted Earth — home ground as a period map.