Studieblad med 3 hoveder og forkroppen af en hest 1810 - 1873

Wilhelm Marstrand made this study sheet with three heads and the torso of a horse in pen and ink. Made in Denmark, this sheet offers us a glimpse into the artistic training of the time. The sketches are academic exercises. Horses and portraits were traditional subjects in the nineteenth century, especially for those artists who aspired to paint historical scenes. We can see Marstrand practicing different angles, and playing around with the chiaroscuro effects of light and shadow. Marstrand would have been part of a community of artists, and this work would have been created in relation to very particular institutional structures. Artists would study the old masters, and the human form, under the supervision of an academy. This system was intended to encourage a shared set of aesthetic values, and to establish what was considered good art. By looking at letters, diaries, and records, we can get a better sense of the social world that produced this work.