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reproduce this
in oil paintings left: George Stubbs, 1724–1806, A Lion Attacking a Horse, c. 1762,
and engravings, Oil on canvas, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

but in 1769 he right: George Stubbs, Horse Attacked by a Lion (Episode C), c. 1769,
debuted a ver- enamel on copper, Yale Center for British Art
sion painted in
enamel on a lower left: Josiah Wedgwood, Horse Frightened by a Lion (Episode A),
copper piece. modeled c. 1780. Solid blue jasper with white relief, shallow oval,
At the time, Yale Center for British Art
this was the
first time an country estate or hunt-
artist of Stubbs’ ing retreat. It would
caliber had used not be until the mid-
this medium as twentieth century
it was typically when he was revived in
used in minia- the public imagination,
ture portraits or thanks first to a major
decorative arts. Whether this was a result of his artistic or scientific retrospective of his
curiosity is unknown, but Stubbs also cut the corners of his work in the 1950s
copper canvas into an octagonal form, thereby eliminating the when Stubbs came to
surrounding landscape and tightening the the attention of famed
focus on the combat. philanthropist Paul
Horse Attacked by a Lion swayed Mellon, an American
many critics who had previously who lived in England
dismissed animal paintings; in and owned thorough-
fact, it was considered a bred racehorses. His
prime example of the acquisition of paintings
“sublime” in art, a concept by Stubbs served as the foundation of Mellon’s
first theorized by his compa- comprehensive collection of eighteenth-century
paintings, now part of the Yale Center for British Art.
triot, Edmund Burke, in Today, a George Stubbs painting can command high
1757. Fellow painter James prices at auction. Recent sales have netted between
Barry summarized the $600,000 to $1,000,000. At a 2011 sale at Christie’s, the
“surprising reality” of the work by painting Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a
saying it “must rouse and agitate the Jockey, and a Stable Lad went for a shocking $22,441,250. After a
most inattentive.” The collective praise career of being mischaracterized as merely a “horse painter,” it seems
undoubtedly persuaded Stubbs to form a partner- George Stubbs finally has the respect he deserves.
ship with Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s to produce enamel-painted
panels with the scene for a commercial audience. However, this venture
was unsuccessful and left Stubbs in quite a bit of debt.
George Stubbs continued to produce animal paintings for the rest of
his career, catering to the aristocratic set. His most famous client was George Stubbs, Brown and White Norfolk or Water Spaniel,
the Prince of Wales, whom he painted thirteen times between 1790 and c. 1778, Beeswax and oil on panel,
1791, various scenes of the Prince riding alone or with this retinue and Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
carriages, and several paintings of the dogs owned by
the royal family. But Stubbs never forgot his love of
anatomy. By 1804, Stubbs was hard at work on a new
project: A Comparative Anatomical Exposition of the
Structure of the Human Body with that of a Tiger and a
Common Fowl. Several engravings were made for the
treatise before he died at the age of 81 in 1806. Even
at the end of his life, Stubbs continued to push the
boundaries of what was traditionally considered a
work of art and a subject of aesthetic interest.

A Legacy Revived

Though today most scholars regard George Stubbs
as an important British artist, he did not initially
inspire collectors outside of his circle of original
patrons. This largely had to do with the entrenched
belief among artists, critics, and connoisseurs that
animal art had less value than other kinds of
painting and sculpture. Even the groundbreaking
work of Animaleries like Moigniez and Barye, not
to mention Rosa Bonheur, faced intense scrutiny from
elite institutions.
Even during the Gilded Age, when American
tycoons like Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, or
Henry E. Huntington formed their fabulous
collections of European art, Stubbs remained on the
periphery of the market, used mainly to adorn a

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