Carle Vernet Large Chalk Study Of A Horse's Head Circa.1800

In addition to being a painter and lithographer, Carle Vernet was an avid horseman. Just days before his death at the age of seventy-eight, he was seen racing as if he were a young man. Vernet is known primarily as an exceptional painter of horses, racing, hunting or cavalry subjects. He received a conventional artistic education from his father, Claude-Joseph Vernet. In 1782 he won the highly coveted Prix de Rome, and in 1808 Napoleon awarded him the Legion de Honneur for one of his battle scenes. Although his sister was guillotined for concealing letters to members of the aristocracy, Vernet's work does not reflect tragedy. Instead, he concentrated much of his efforts on creating acute observations of daily life. This is especially true of his work after 1816, when he produced engravings of street vendors, horse markets, and dandies.