Royal Polo
The square format gives the player and horse equal gravitational weight, creating a compact arena within the picture plane. A diagonal sweep from the rider’s raised mallet down through the horse’s neck to the approaching ball generates the painting’s primary thrust. Short, energetic marks around the horse’s legs and the ball produce centrifugal momentum so the viewer feels both the split-second before contact and the arc that follows.
A vivid palette of reds, purples, oranges, and verdant greens converts the field and sky into a single vibrating atmosphere. The red jersey functions as a visual anchor against cooler background passages, while warm accents punctuate the horse’s flanks and the grass, suggesting sun, dust, and competitive heat. Color is used to imply speed and focus rather than literal detail.
Expressive, layered brushstrokes alternate between long sweeps that model ground and sky and shorter, staccato marks that define muscle and motion. Transparent glazes sit beside opaque passages so the surface reads as both luminous and worked, capturing the game’s kinetic energy while inviting close inspection of paint handling.
The rider is reduced to the essentials of posture and purpose: helmeted head, extended arm, and the poised mallet that signals intention. The horse is portrayed through concentrated masses of mark making that emphasize power and submission to speed. Together they read as a partnership of control and impulse, where timing and trust are the true subjects.
Royal Polo explores sport as choreography—an aristocratic ritual translated into rhythm and color. The painting balances elite spectacle and bodily exertion, asking viewers to consider skill, risk, and the theatricality inherent in competition. It also honors the momentary grace within force, showing how a single strike encapsulates training, anticipation, and communal attention.
A vivid palette of reds, purples, oranges, and verdant greens converts the field and sky into a single vibrating atmosphere. The red jersey functions as a visual anchor against cooler background passages, while warm accents punctuate the horse’s flanks and the grass, suggesting sun, dust, and competitive heat. Color is used to imply speed and focus rather than literal detail.
Expressive, layered brushstrokes alternate between long sweeps that model ground and sky and shorter, staccato marks that define muscle and motion. Transparent glazes sit beside opaque passages so the surface reads as both luminous and worked, capturing the game’s kinetic energy while inviting close inspection of paint handling.
The rider is reduced to the essentials of posture and purpose: helmeted head, extended arm, and the poised mallet that signals intention. The horse is portrayed through concentrated masses of mark making that emphasize power and submission to speed. Together they read as a partnership of control and impulse, where timing and trust are the true subjects.
Royal Polo explores sport as choreography—an aristocratic ritual translated into rhythm and color. The painting balances elite spectacle and bodily exertion, asking viewers to consider skill, risk, and the theatricality inherent in competition. It also honors the momentary grace within force, showing how a single strike encapsulates training, anticipation, and communal attention.