Dark and Light by Anna Duffy

            It’s not just two horses fighting; it’s more than that. I recently attended the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute or “The Clark”, an art museum located in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The piece I found most interesting there is a French painting, done by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). This painting is titled, “Two Horses Fighting in a Stormy Landscape” and was created in 1828. This name is very accurate, as the painting is literally two horses, a grey and a bay, fighting with each other in a stormy setting. However, you can see by reading the description and looking at it closer, it is more than just the obvious.

            Eugène Delacroix uses nature in “Two Horses Fighting in a Stormy Landscape” to beautifully show something that has always been relevant in society. Delacroix, along with many other famous early nineteenth-century European artists, would sometimes use animals in their work to suggest basic aspects of human nature. In this particular piece, the artist used horse combat to symbolize human hostility between good and evil. You can see this when looking at the colors of the two horses; one is light while the other is dark. The light colored one, the grey, represents the force of good, as it is a brighter and a happier color. The dark colored one, the bay, represents the force of evil, as it is a dimmer and a sadder color. Good and evil human beings do not get along most of the time, which is something that has always been pertinent in humanity, and exactly what Eugène Delacroix was trying to depict in “Two Horses Fighting in a Stormy Landscape”.

            Eugène Delacroix uses animals in “Two Horses Fighting in a Stormy Landscape” to stunningly display something that has constantly been significant in civilization. He uses horses and their colors to show how people that are good and people that are evil do not get along, which is something that has continuously been relevant. I definitely recommend checking out this painting, as it could be relatable to you and is also a gorgeous painting to look at.