Horse and Rider, Modern bronze sculpture at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., United States.
Horse and Rider is a bronze sculpture at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. The work depicts a rider with raised arms mounted on a horse caught in a rearing motion, creating a sense of dynamic tension between the two figures.
The Italian artist Marino Marini created this work between 1952 and 1953, a period when artists were responding artistically to post-war changes. The creation reflects how sculptors of that era explored movement and emotional expression as reactions to the conflicts that had just ended.
The sculpture represents a departure from traditional equestrian monuments, reflecting post-war anxieties through the dynamic interaction between human and animal.
You can view this sculpture in the outdoor section of the museum grounds, where you can walk around it freely to see all angles. Spending time to examine it from different positions helps you appreciate how the artist composed the shapes in space.
The sculpture was originally created in wood before being cast in bronze, showing how Marini explored the same subject across different materials. This material evolution demonstrates the artist's practice of reimagining his compositions through various techniques and substances.
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