Thomas Blinks

STRUCTURE The canvas has been relined. PAINT SURFACE The paint surface is in good overall condition; there are a few light traces of discolouration to the varnish. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals a patch of retouching to an old repair in the sky, upper left and some further retouching the upper left corner. No other retouching is visible. FRAME Held in a later plaster gilt frame with some chips to the giltwork.
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Thomas Blinks was born in Maidstone; he was a whipper-in for a local pack of hounds by the age of ten and produced his first sketches around the same time.  Despite his family's protestation he pursued a career as an artist.  He seems to have been self-taught and learnt equine anatomy by studying horses at Tattersalls.  His work was exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1881, the Royal Society of British artists 1882 and the Royal Academy in 1883.  He continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until virtually the end of his life and he was part of a distinguished group of artists who painted His Majesty King George V out hunting.  He was clearly a charming man described as 'thickset, rubicund and trimley bearded' and able to 'turn a verbal thrust with jovial ease' (Sally Mitchell, The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists, 1985)

The present work depicts the drama of the hunt as riders approach and jump a challenging hedge.  The huntsmen lean far back in the saddle to negotiate the landing while an intrepid equestrienne attempts the same feat side-saddle.  The self-taught Blinks displays an impressive mastery of human and animal anatomy while rendering the intracacies of the hedgerow with an almost Pre-Raphaelite meticulousness.  The track leading to the horizon to the left of the composition, along with the rest of the field in the distance, evokes a wonderful sense of the wide open countryside.

The title of the work is somewhat enigmatic in that while the county is revealed, the hunt could be any one of The Atherstone, The Belvoir, The Cottesmore, The Fernie or The Quorn, all of whom have hunted for centuries in Leicestershire.