With representative masterpieces of the genre—including works by Sir Francis Grant, John Frederick Herring, Benjamin Marshall, George Morland, and George Stubbs—this exhibition celebrates Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon’s gift of British sporting art to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and marks an opportunity to view the entire breadth of this outstanding and comprehensive collection. It also proposes a fresh look at sporting art within wider social and artistic contexts, including the scientific and industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, the transformation of the British countryside, the evolutionary history of the horse and other animals, and society’s changing habits and customs.
Exhibition organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Supported in part by our 2019 Frist Gala Patrons
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Exhibition gallery
Benjamin Marshall (British, 1768–1835). Noble, a Hunter Well-Known in Kent, 1810. Oil on canvas, 40 1/8 x 50 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 99.80. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
The Mellon Story with Chief Curator, Mark Scala of the Frist Art Museum
Alfred Munnings (British, 1878–1959). Linin’ ’em Up, Newmarket, ca. 1940–53. Oil on panel, 19 3/4 x 23 1/2 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 96.24. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: David Stover
James Pollard (British, 1792–1867). Coaching Incident: A Railway Train Overtaking the Hull-London Royal Mail Coach, 1843. Oil on panel, 8 1/2 x 11 3/4 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 99.87. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Travis Fullerton
George Stubbs (British, 1724–1806). Black and White Spaniel Following a Scent, 1793. Oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 85.506. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
Henry Thomas Alken (British, 1785–1851). Fishing on the River Avon, near Fordingbridge, Hampshire: Trout Fishing at Harper Mill, 1842. Oil on panel, 6 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 85.485.1. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
Benjamin Marshall (British, 1768–1835). David, the Property of Henry Villebois, Esq., with Two Other Coach Horses, 1802. Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 39 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 85.476. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
John Frederick Herring, Sr. (British, 1795–1865). The Final Lengths of the Race for the Doncaster Gold Cup, 1826. Oil on canvas, 17 3/4 x 35 3/4 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 99.79. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
John Collet (British, ca. 1725–1780). The Joys of the Chase or The Rising Woman and the Falling Man, 1780. Oil on canvas, 16 x 23 1/2 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 99.62. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Travis Fullerton
George Stubbs (British, 1724–1806). Tiger, ca. 1769–71. Oil on canvas, 24 1/4 x 28 3/4 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 99.95. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Katherine Wetzel
George Morland (British, 1763–1804). Pigs and Piglets in a Sty, ca. 1800. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 12 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 85.472. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: David Stover
Abraham Cooper, (British, 1787–1868). The Wapati or North American Deer, 1818. Oil on panel, 10 7/8 x 14 1/8 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Paul Mellon Collection, 85.487. Image © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Photo: Travis Fullerton
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