Homage to Rembrandt’s The Polish Rider

When I was studying art at University we went on a field trip to New York, to look at classic and contemporary art from around the world. During the tour of the art galleries, I was blown away by three paintings in particular. ‘The Polish Rider’ a nobleman on white horse art, created by the Dutch master, Rembrandt van Rijn in 1655, ‘Stables’ an abstract horse painting, created by Franz Marc in 1913-14, and ‘Sleeping Peasants’, an atypical painting by Pablo Picasso, created in 1919.

Years later I was approached by a group of Northern Ontario artist, and asked to join them for a traveling group art exhibition called “Portraits North of 17”. I was delighted to discover that one of the tasks we had to complete, was to create a contemporary hommage to a Rembrandt portrait painting. I was super excited to work with this painting that had remained in my memory, many years after my original encounter.  I did my best to capture the essence of ‘The Polish Rider,” but at the same time I was continuously reminding myself that this was not meant to be a copy, I had to take it in my own direction. I have done my best to pay hommage to the original, but also to create an artwork that was uniquely my own.