Horse's Skull, Sphere and Moon
About this artwork
This work shows a horse’s skull in a nighttime landscape setting, with the jaws propped open with a stick, and the moon casting a silvery light. An enigmatic ball lies behind the skull, echoing the form of the moon. Thanks to the Irish writter Theodora FitzGibbon (1916–1991), who shared a flat with Pulham at the time he painted this work, we know a great deal about it. Pulham wanted to paint animal skulls and after much trial and error, a horse’s head was deemed perfect. He purchased a horse’s head from the butcher and proceeded to soak, wash and scrub it. The head appeared in many paintings, however, few remain as his studio was bombed in 1941. It is believed that this work survived because it was being shown at an exhibition of firemen’s paintings at Burlington House at the time.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Peter Rose Pulham (1910 - 1956) English
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title:Horse's Skull, Sphere and Moon
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date created:1941
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:51.00 x 76.00 cm; Framed: 85.50 x 111.00 x 9.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased with Art Fund support, 2012
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accession number:GMA 5179
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Peter Rose Pulham
Peter Rose Pulham
Pulham studied to become an architect, but by the early 1930s he was working as a photographer, producing work for Harper’s Bazaar. He moved between London and Paris in the 1930s, making a celebrated series of photographs of Picasso in 1938 and becoming involved with the French Surrealists. He took...