Next to a fine picture of a lovely woman there is nothing perhaps which more strongly appeals to the æsthetic sense than a picture of a splendid thoroughbred horse. This accounts, probably, for the vogue for pictures of racehorses by Herring and artists of lesser note, which existed in England during the last century. These pictures, however, when scrutinised with the critical eye of to-day, are found to be full of inaccuracies and exaggerations. For example, many of us are more or less familiar with the style of picture frequently displayed in old English inns, and, more rarely, in our own country. The horse is almost invariably depicted as standing in a stable with a small feed-box in one corner, his muscles bulging out and his contour greatly accentuated by the aid of unaccountable lights and shades. Every animal was shown with a ridiculously small head, tapering legs and tiny feet. Again, the horse may be shown in action, galloping, his ears well back, legs stretched out to their fullest extent, and the animal a foot or more clear of the ground, while in the background a few spectators in top hats appear watching “The Devil doing his gallop.” Still another phase in these sporting pictures was the introduction of the owner and trainer as in Hobbs’ painting of “Eclipse,” and Herring’s picture of “The Flying Dutchman,” or a number of horses racing in the familiar stretched-out attitude, the jockeys sitting bolt upright with arms fully extended. In the background are seen the winning post and a long line of excited spectators. The greater skill of present-day artists, coupled with the advent of the cinematograph (which has provided them with the means of studying the horse in motion), has been responsible for some wonderfully accurate and lifelike portrayals of the more prominent of our equine celebrities. It may be said with little fear of contradiction, that among latter day artists, few, if any, have been more successful in horse portraiture than Martin Stainforth. His pictures usually represent a horse as possessed of irreproachable manners, standing quite still, and of exemplary docility. But when he leaves this favourite pose and gives us the racehorse in action his art achieves supreme heights. An Englishman by birth, Stainforth came to this country in 1909 and now claims to have served a sufficient period of probation to entitle him to be an Australian by adoption. A year or so of station life with his cousin in North Queensland inspired him with such enthusiasm for the outdoor life and our genial climate that a return to London was out of the question, so he decided to come to Sydney, there to indulge a long-cherished ambition to paint Australia’s thoroughbreds for which he had conceived so warm an admiration.