The Drinking Well is a fine example of Harrington Bird’s equestrian Orientalist style. Two stunning horses approach a drinking well as an elegant foal trots behind kicking up dust. Little detail is given to the male handlers to the left of the canvas juxtaposed to the shimmering coats of the horses and intense eye contact from the central bay horse. Bird’s painterly style is intricate and smooth yet texture and three-dimensionality is hinted with the gestural layering of paint to depict the sandy ground and dust gathering in the air. This equestrian subject is enclosed within a simplistic yellow desert foreground against a cloudless sky blue to accentuate the central figures and connote the exotic heat of the day. The charming colour palette of the painting is further complimented by the lightly engraved minimalist orientalist wooden frame, gilded with 24 carat gold, gracefully illuminating the entire composition.
Artist Biography
John Alexander Harrington Bird was a British sporting artist best known for depictions of horses, equestrian scenes, polo players, horse racing and hunting scenes in watercolour, pastels and oils. He also painted Orientalist equestrian scenes focussing on Arabian horses with Middle Eastern or African handlers in an ‘exotic’ landscape.
Bird was educated in London and studied at the Royal Academy. In 1875, he went to Montreal and served as Director of Art on the Board of School Commissions. In 1880, he joined the Royal Canadian Academy as an Associate Member where he also exhibited his works. He returned to London in 1885, where he remained for the rest of his life. Between 1870 and 1893 he exhibited his paintings at the Royal Academy and at the Royal Society of British Artists on Suffolk Street in London. There were many prints published after his paintings. He signed his works Harrington Bird.
