A Fair Equestrian

Alfred Dedreux (1810-1860) was from a family of artists. His uncle, a painter himself, took him frequently to the atelier of his close friend Théodore Géricault's (1791-1824), whose subject-matters, especially the horses, would have a long lasting influence on him. He later studied with Léon Cogniet (1794-1880). He received medals from the Salons of 1834, 1844 and 1848, the Cross of the Légion d'honneur in 1857, and commissions from the Duc d'Orléans, Queen Victoria and Napoleon III.

This painting is a fine example of Dedreux' mature style. It shows an elegant amazon on a white horse set in flat and woody landscape. Dedreux' art was influenced by Théodore Géricualt but also British artists as John Constable and Joshua Reynolds. His oeuvre responds somehow to the realist movement but borrows also some components from the Romanticists.