I inherited a strange little picture from my grandmother of two horses frightened by a storm, perhaps, or running towards some lightening. I remember staring up at the horses’ pop eyes during nap time, and am terribly satisfied having it in my house. This terrible cell phone picture is of my dining room wall, horse picture included.
It never crossed my mind to find out more about it, even though I had never seen its like anywhere else. You can imagine my surprise when I saw it included in the gallery wall of interior designer Lauren Liess | Pure Style Home while flipping through a home decorating magazine. Liess’ style is much more polished and muted, but the horse picture has the same kind of punch, I think. It is an oddity: something banal enough to look past and yet odd enough to furrow the brow upon closer inspection.
After a little searching I found that it is called Spirited Horses by Henri LeRoy (1851- ) a still life painter in France (*05/11/2015 now in question, see link to continuing research below). LeRoy’s catalog, as far as I could find, revolved around prints of fruit and flowers with a few landscapes thrown in. All of his pictures have the same feel: a controlled and factual reproduction of the subject, but strange–like looking through a warped glass. They are just a little bit naive.
I wanted to find out more about Henri LeRoy, but have been unsuccessful. He, like several other Victorian chromolithograph artists, produced much in a new and flourishing world of consumer driven art. Many chromolithographs were known for their publishers over their artists. They found a champion in Harriet Beecher Stowe who lauded them as an asset to interior decoration (Rotskoff). Perhaps because of Stowe’s support, and perhaps because a new and thriving middle class had grown from industrialism, consumption of these prints soared between 1840-1900. They were so popular, as was using the technology for cards and advertisements, that the time period became known as the “chromo civilization” (according to Wikipedia). Like any pop-art, they were not made to last and the numbers of undamaged prints out there have dwindled over the years, which is probably why I’ve only just seen Henri LeRoy’s Spirited Horses on anyone else’s wall.
05/11/2015: A continuation of this research can be found in Chromolithography and the Mystery of Henri and Anita LeRoy
cited: Lori E. Rotskoff (1997) Decorating the Dining-Room: Still-Life Chromolithographs and Domestic Ideology in Nineteenth-Century America. Journal of American Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Apr., 1997), pp. 19-42
8 Comments
i have a copy of spirited horses, but it has no signature. I took it out of the frame the frame would look like it was from the 50s black-and-white speckle paint ..
This painting was the basis of a banknote engraving produced around 1860, so it existed well before LeRoy came onto the scene. The information I have is that the original painting was by Alfred de Deaux entitled “Horses Frightened by a Storm.” http://www.souvenircards.org/gallery/SO/pics/SO-9.jpg
I had someone drop this picture off today? Value?
Unfortunately, I have not found anyway to value LeRoy pieces outside of watching auctions online and getting a sense of consumer demand that way.
My grandmother has a copy exactly like the one pictured however it is accompanied by another print the same size and pictures the same two horses, even more frightened in the storm. The white horse has a trifled expression with its mouth wide open, exposing its teeth, the black horse running behind it. it is definitely by the same artist. I am wondering if i have a rare reproduction as i can’t find any pictures or information about this mysterious second print. If anyone has seen this before or knows anything about it, i would love to hear about it. Next time i visit my grandmother i will be sure to get some photographs to post on the internet so other collectors can see. maddisonlacie32@hotmail.com
I’d love to see a picture of the accompanying picture! I’m still gathering up all I can find for a new research post. More will be on the way.
I have one of the original charcoal sketches, not a reprint or copy of the Spirited Horses. I was informed that Anita Pemberton LeRoy did it. It is the same as shown above except I can’t see the signature on the one above. When my Daddy got it it was at least 40 to 50 years old that was in like 1950. He found it in a very old home that at the time was in ruins, now it’s a famous historical sight. Imagine that.
The signature at the bottom of the print I have just reads LeRoy, copyright 1900 by J. Hoover & Sons. My initial searching found as little on Anita Pemberton LeRoy as I originally found on Henri, but I’ve put my librarian hat on…I will figure this out and there will be more to come.