Chevaux Gris

With its taut silhouette and its contrast of deep blacks, chalky whites and luminous beiges, this composition first asserts a physical presence. The horse, captured in the act of rearing, is not described in an academic manner: rather, it is sculpted by the painting itself, in blocks and restrained drips, as though the gesture were seeking to convey the surge before the detail. The background, reduced to large areas setting darkness against light, reinforces this sensation of contained force. The whole belongs to a very free modern figurative style, in which expression matters more than anatomical precision. The surface retains all the vitality of the brushwork, with a perceptible grain and variations in opacity that animate the animal’s coat. The broad, solemn black-and-gold frame complements this pictorial tension without neutralising it. A few signs of use appear on the reverse and along the edges, but the work remains legible and visually strong. The handwritten title « Chevaux Gris » inscribed on the back confirms the subject’s direction and offers a simple key to this image focused on the power of the motif. About the artist — Sergio Cecchi, born in Venice in 1921 and active in Switzerland, is chiefly documented for his views of Geneva and urban scenes; the sources consulted also show that he addressed other subjects, including horses, with the same pictorial energy.