Mares and Foals belonging to the 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke, c. 1761– 62

George Stubbs is thought by many to be the finest painter of animals in the history of European art. He is best known for his paintings of horses, which transcend historical genres to achieve rare pictorial refinement and emotional resonance. This majestic canvas is one of the principal, and likely earliest, in a group of frieze-like paintings of brood mares and their offspring, an innovative series that has been called the artist’s crowning achievement. The acquisition, like that of Thomas Gainsborough’s painting Going to Market, Early Morning (c. 1773)—purchased by the Kimbell in 2023 and exhibited nearby—significantly elevates the museum’s holdings of eighteenth-century British paintings, which Velma and Kay Kimbell favored when initially building their collection.

In the painting, Stubbs places a mature bay mare at the center of a group of two other mares and three foals, who nuzzle close to their mothers. The composition is set within a springtime landscape at what is probably the Wiltshire family estate of the Second Viscount Bolingbroke, the painting’s first owner. Verdant green parkland, cloudy sky, and a broad, dark gray stretch of water provide spatial interest beyond the long, slender legs of the horses. Likely animals from the viscount’s stables, the horses are highly naturalistic, lifelike in their anatomical forms and their poses. While the overall mood is tranquil and domestic, as the mothers and their young gently commune with each other, the splendid sky and the wide, sparkling eyes of the mares add an element of drama to the composition.

Stubbs was recognized in his lifetime, and is still today, for his unrivaled understanding of equine anatomy and his unsurpassed ability to record not only the appearance of individual animals but also their temperaments. His genius in understanding the horse arose from scientific study but also from his apparent empathy for the character of each horse and his ability to express its exquisite beauty.

Mares and Foals Belonging to the Second Viscount Bolingbroke has been acquired in memory of Ben J. Fortson (1932–2024), whose leadership was instrumental in the Kimbell’s growth. Mr. Fortson served on the Board of Directors of the Kimbell Art Foundation from 1964 until his death and was the Foundation’s longtime Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer.