Landscape with a Horse

Gauguin's equestrian subjects from the Tahitian and Marquesan periods connect his observation of actual Pacific horsemen with his sustained reference to archaic and non-Western sculptural sources — the Parthenon frieze, Javanese temple reliefs — that he kept as photographs in his studio. Horses were introduced to Polynesia by European colonists and remained associated with authority and movement, giving them a dual meaning in Gauguin's imagery: simultaneously a Polynesian reality and a link to the classical tradition he was transposing into a Pacific key. The combination of landscape and horse gave him a subject that connected the earthbound vegetation of Tahiti with the mobility of a living creature.

The horse is rendered as a simplified, rounded form in warm-toned chestnut or bay, integrated into the landscape rather than prominently displayed. The surrounding vegetation is treated in broad strokes of saturated green and ochre. The composition is relaxed and non-hierarchical, consistent with Gauguin's late Polynesian manner.