Michael J Austin - Equus

Michael J Austin

EQUUS Five Paintings

Exhibition: 13 – 29 February 2020 Paintings are available for purchase upon receipt of this catalogue

Michael J Austin

EQUUS Five Paintings

Jonathan Cooper 20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

EQUUS The horse has a permanently reserved and special place on my easel. It is evocative of noble things, of things classical and ancient and possesses a grace and dignity favoured by artists throughout the ages. The equine head especially is an artist’s and sculptor’s delight. The prominent, solid nosebone so pronounced, softened by the always blowing silky nose; the taught tension of the tendons and muscles, a feast of expression and twiddley bits for the artist’s brush and an intelligence and empathy so easily seen in the eyes. For a long time I resisted the temptation to paint them as I feared an over-familiarity with the equine image, so I isolated and minimalised, separating the horse from the land and the tack and placing them on simple colours to enhance the form and focus the attention. In this way, to me at least, the horse became more than a horse. It began to turn into an icon, not because of any particular skill of mine as an artist, but because of the magical spell of the Equus.

Michael J Austin, January 2020

Equus I oil on canvas 36 × 22 ins (91 × 56 cm) £9,000

Equus II oil on canvas 43.3 × 31.5 ins (110 × 80 cm) £12,800

Equus III oil on canvas 35.4 × 23.6 ins (90 × 60 cm) £9,000

Equus IV oil on canvas 41.75 × 30 ins (106 × 76 cm) £11,800

Equus V oil on canvas 47.6 × 31.5 ins (121 × 80 cm) £14,000

MICHAEL J AUSTIN 1959

Born in London, UK

1985 – 1995 Features Artist for The Sunday Times, Marvel 1997 – 2020 Solo exhibitions with Jonathan Cooper, London 2002 – 2015 Exhibited at the London Art Fair 2002 – 2011 Exhibited at Art London 2003

Invited by HRH the Prince of Wales to accompany him to India and Oman as Royal Tour Artist

2008 – 2016 Exhibited at BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair 2013 – 2019 Exhibited at Masterpiece, London 2010 – 2012 Exhibited at Haughton’s Art Antiques, London 2013

Exhibited in 25 Years, Jonathan Cooper, London

2013 – 2019 Exhibited at LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, London 2014

Exhibited in Still Lifes & Flowers, Jonathan Cooper, London

2015

Exhibited at Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show, Florida

2016

Invited by HRH the Prince of Wales to accompany him to Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates as Royal Tour Artist

2017

New Work, Jonathan Cooper, London

Exhibited in Art in Motion – The Spirit of the Horse, Messums Wiltshire

2018

Exhibited in Jonathan Cooper: 30 Years, Jonathan Cooper, London

Selected Press

Antiques Magazine; Antiques Trade Gazette; The Artist; Artists and Illustrators; Country Life; Country and Town House; The Countryman; The Countryman’s Weekly; Daily Mail Weekend; The Horse and Rider; House & Garden; The Hunting Art Prize Catalogue; The Independent Arts Review; Leisure Painter; The Resident; The London Magazine; The London Paper; This is London; The Times; The Shooting Gazette

Commissions undertaken

Jonathan Cooper 20 Park Walk  London  SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

Jonathan Cooper