item details
NameNot exactly a horse
ProductionStefan Knapp; 1954
Classificationoil paintings
Materialsoil paint, canvas
Materials Summaryoil on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 782 (height), 681 (length)
Registration Number1994-0022-4
Credit lineBequest of Mary Chamot, 1994
Overview
Flat blocks of colour and strong outlines combine to create this quirky, stylised horse by Stefan Knapp.
A Polish-born artist, Knapp was sent to a Siberian gulag (forced labour camp) by the Soviet authorities during World War II. After the war, he studied art in London, where he approached abstract painting as a form of therapy to deal with the traumas he had suffered. In later life, Knapp became known for his giant enamel murals.
Mary Chamot championed a greater acceptance of abstract art by the National Art Gallery, which had previously held that abstraction would go out of fashion. She, in fact, bequeathed this work, showing her commitment to the gallery to the very end.