This painting was created in 2025 following a commission placed through Saatchi Art.
It belongs to my ongoing Dressage Test series, a body of work in which I explore the movement of dressage horses through a succession of postures, assembled within a single composition. It belongs to my ongoing Dressage Test series, a body of work in which I explore the movement of dressage horses through a succession of postures, assembled within a single composition.
The very first painting of this series dates back to 2017. At the time, I had been drawing many dressage horses, capturing specific postures and moments of movement. I had accumulated a large number of references and sketches, and at some point the idea emerged to bring several of these postures together into one painting — not to depict a single frozen moment, but to suggest a precise dressage movement unfolding over time, such as a pirouette.
What immediately interested me was the dynamic created by this accumulation of gestures. The repetition of the horse’s body, slightly shifted each time, naturally evoked the idea of movement decomposition, reminiscent of the photographic studies of Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey in the 19th century. In those early experiments, movement was broken down into fragments, revealing rhythms and structures that the naked eye could not fully grasp.
When I received this commission, I was genuinely thrilled at the idea of returning to this series — and even more so at the prospect of working on such a large format. With its elongated canvas (170 × 55 cm), the painting offered the space needed to fully express the energy deployed by the horse, the continuity of movement, and the sense of flow created by the body in action.
This format allowed the horse’s movement to stretch across the surface, almost like a visual sequence or a slow-motion dance. Each posture functions like a pause, an arrested image, yet together they create a continuous rhythm — a choreography where tension, balance, and control coexist. Rather than illustrating performance, my intention was to translate the physical intensity and vitality of the movement, and the silent dialogue between strength and precision that defines dressage.
Creating this painting was both a continuation of a long-standing research and a renewed exploration made possible by trust, scale, and freedom. It is always deeply rewarding to see such projects come to life through commissions that resonate so closely with my artistic approach.
Watch the full process video
You can watch the full painting process — from the first drawn lines to the finished work — in the dedicated video on my YouTube channel.
Interested in a commissioned painting?
I regularly create commissioned works, from portraits to more experimental compositions exploring movement, rhythm, and energy.
If you would like to discuss a project or explore commission options, you can find all the details on my commission page.