Richard Reeves; leading equine portrait painter
Hyfler/Rosner
earlier obit. Thought you midght like to see some of his
work.
Richard Reeves
(Filed: 18/10/2005) Telegraph
http://www.harnesstracks.com/2004_art_auction/2004_artwork/246_Affirmed_Alydar.jpg
http://www.harnesstracks.com/2004_art_auction/2004_artwork/241_Northern_Dancer.jpg
http://www.harnesstracks.com/2004_art_auction/2004_artwork/244_Richard_Stone_Reeves_Norcliffe.jpg
http://www.harnesstracks.com/2004_art_auction/2004_artwork/249_Troy.jpg
Richard Reeves, who died on October 7 aged 85, was one of
the world's leading equine portrait painters and was
sometimes compared, rather fancifully, to George Stubbs.
Reeves, who began his career in the 1940s, was commissioned
by the world's leading racehorse owners and painted more
international champions and classic winners than any other
artist in history.
These included Affirmed, Secretariat, Northern Dancer and
Seattle Slew, and also Dumfermline, the Queen's champion
racehorse, winner of the Oaks and the St Leger.
Classic in style and mostly executed in oil on canvas,
Reeves's paintings generally set his subjects in profile
against pastoral backgrounds and often depicted jockeys,
including Lester Piggott and Bill Shoemaker, and trainers
such as Noel Murless. He also painted many racing scenes,
including famous finishes at Ascot and Epsom.
Richard Stone Reeves was born in Manhattan on November 6
1919 and raised at Garden City, Long Island, New York, near
the city's main race course, Belmont Park, where he gained
his love of horses and racing as a young boy.
His father was a descendant of the 19th-century American
portrait painter Thomas Sully, whose subjects included
President Andrew Jackson and Queen Victoria. After taking a
degree in art from Syracuse University, Reeves served as a
naval intelligence officer in China during the Second World
War, painting subjects such as local temples and wildlife in
his spare time. One of his superior officers was Bob
Johnson, president of the Roosevelt Raceway at Westbury, New
York. He noticed Reeves sketching and offered to help him
after the war. He gave him his first commissions for 10
portraits of horses.
One of Reeves's early commissions was a portrait of Calumet
Farm champion Armed, the 1947 American Horse of the Year.
The painting featured on the cover of Life magazine, and
afterwards commissions flowed in from leading owners and
breeders from around the world. His patrons included
Roosevelt's lend-lease envoy Averell Harriman, and the
millionaires Paul Mellon, Allaire duPont, Harry Guggenheim
and the Aga Khan. In 1982 President Reagan presented the
Queen with a special edition of Reeves's book Decades of
Champions, which included a portrait of Dumfermline.
Reeves's work was also published in Royal Blood, Fifty Years
of Classic Thoroughbreds and Belmont Park: A Century of
Champions.
He is survived by his wife, Martha, and by their son and
daughter.