This Magnificent Bronze by Philip Blacker is one of a limited edition of 9 That Philip produced of 'Yeats' the famous Irish Race Horse. Yeats, a Thoroughbred racehorse who won seven Group One (G1) races and is the only horse ever to win the Ascot Gold Cup four times in succession. Yeats is a dark-coated bay horse foaled on 23 April 2001 at Barronstown Stud. Yeats is by Sadler's Wells, out of Lyndonville (also owned by Barronstown Stud) by Top Ville. He is owned by Ballydoyle and Coolmore Stud owner John Magnier. He is named after the painter Jack Butler Yeats.
The genius of Philip Blacker's ability to capture the majesty of the horse is evident very much in this masterpiece. This Bronze is signed and numbered (9/9) with supporting paperwork. I am indeed very fortunate to have one of Philip's amazing scuptures in my Gallery on Francis Street and this sculpture which is on display draws many admirers and comment.
Height 15.5" (40cm) Width 23" (59cm) Depth 5" (13cm) Item Sold
Biography: Philip Blacker was born in 1949 and was educated in Dorset. On leaving school he became a steeplechase jockey and rode professionally for 13 years, during which he rode 340 winners and competed in The Grand National nine times. It was during this time that Philip developed his latent enthusiasm for sculpture. Under the guidance of Margot Dent, a former pupil of John Skeaping, he devoted as much time to sculpture as he could spare from his riding, and his first three editions, all racing bronzes based on The Grand National, sold out quickly. In 1982 he retired from the saddle to concentrate full time on sculpture from his Oxfordshire studio.
Philip’s first one-man show was held at the Tryon Gallery, Cork St, London, in November 1983, and was hugely successful. Initially his work concentrated on capturing the authenticity and movement of horse racing subjects. Since his retirement from the saddle he has moved on to include a wider subject matter and to experiment with technique.
However, his ambition was to work on a grand scale and the opportunity came when he was commissioned to create a life-size sculpture of Red Rum for Aintree Racecourse. Philip has completed 26 further life-size or larger bronzes of horses, which now stand in Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, Barbados, Japan and the UK. In recent years, his life-size commissions have included sculptures of the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, Best Mate, Persian Punch for Newmarket Racecourse, a dressage horse for the New Equestrian Centre in Penang, Malaysia, and an 18 foot high sculpture of a stallion for Saudi Arabia.
Philip’s private commissions include many household names – Bosra Sham, Danehill, Istabraq and Sariska. Philip’s amazing talent has attracted private commissions from Coolmore Stud, JP McManus, Cheltenham Racecourse, Lady Bamford, Kirsten Rausing, Sheik Fahad al Thani, Lady Lloyd Webber, Newmarket Racecourse, Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne Australia, Barbados Turf Club and others.