Painter Jia Haoyi

The horse is one of the icons of human civilization. Man long depended on the horse for farming, transportation, war, and exploration. The world is endowed with a wonderfully rich legacy of horses depicted in art. An artist of the present day pays his tribute to the noble animal.

JiaHaoyi'sworks (File photo)

Jia Haoyi has combined his two great passions - horses and painting to become today’s foremost equine illustrator. On today’s The List, we venture into the world of this innovative artist. Here we encounter his astonishingly poetic renderings of one of the world’s best-loved and most highly prized animals.

Few creatures inspire our admiration more than horses. Whether charging at full-gallop through fields, tenderly nuzzling foals, or calmly meeting our gaze, these creatures embody a rare range of emotional and spiritual connotation.

Jia Haoyi deftly lures us into the heart and soul of horses. He exposes astonishing truths and unlocks the mystery of the majestic creature that has survived on its own for fifty-five million years. The transformational moment came for Jia, when he first saw an immense herd of horses galloping on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Since then, Jia has established a much deeper, almost sacred bond with horses.

JiaHaoyi

Jia Haoyi, said, "I saw people chasing horses to harness them. The scene was most impressive. On the vast grassland, an immense herd of horses was surging forward. I was really moved. At that moment, I felt as if the earth were trembling."

The horse has been a subject of deep interest and fascination for Chinese artists over millennia. The horse's role is clearly traceable to changing cultural perspectives, artistic styles, and symbolic interpretations.

Horses first become evident in Han Dynasty frescos. They were developed to full form during the Tang Dynasty. The evolution continued through later epochs, and thrived under latter-day art masters like Xu Beihong and Huang Zhou.