Horses 

Jacques Villon made this drawing, Horses, using pen and ink on paper. The composition presents an energetic jumble of equine forms, their bodies and riders rendered with swift, wiry lines that create a sense of dynamic movement. The monochromatic palette focuses attention on the texture created by the varying densities of line work. Villon's abstraction simplifies the forms into their most essential lines, suggesting a debt to Cubist principles of reducing objects to their basic geometric components. This lends the sketch a semiotic quality, where each line functions as a signifier of a larger, more complex form. The drawing captures not just the appearance of horses but also the feeling of their vitality and speed. Note how the density of lines increases in areas meant to suggest depth, creating a spatial complexity. It’s through this arrangement of line, form, and suggestion of movement that Villon challenges our perception, inviting us to see beyond the surface representation of horses.