Alen MacWeeney
Irish, b. 1939

White Horse, Sussex Downs, England, 1989
Inkjet print

 

The area of Sussex Downs in southern England is perhaps best known for its large chalk hills, where the Litlington White Horse, a nearly 100-foot-tall figure depicting a horse, was cut into the hillside in 1838. Southern England features several of these chalk figures, formally called geoglyphs, cut into the countryside, with the earliest dating back to 50 BCE. Here, MacWeeney has captured a living embodiment of this monumental landmark of the Sussex countryside. The white horse almost glows against the dark gray English background, much like the carved chalk geoglyphs of Sussex Downs.

Gift of David Geiger in honor of the Museum’s 75th anniversary, 2019

Visual Description: This is a photograph, roughly 1 ½ feet wide and almost 2 feet tall, of a stark white horse in an English field. The horse is in the center of the photo, behind a barbed wire fence. The horse’s head faces downward as it grazes. Behind the horse is a hilly and dark landscape, with light gray areas carved out of it. The sky is a light, steely blue.