Evoking feelings of freedom and connections with the natural world through bold brushwork and pulsating color, this powerful oil on canvas is the work of the famed French painter André Brasilier. Brasilier’s paintings contain a distinctive blend of dynamic figures and a bold yet balanced color palette, and this work, entitled Petite fantasia, epitomizes his compelling visual lexicon.

In the foreground, a row of black stallions and their riders gallop across a wide expanse of land. Mountain ranges loom majestically in the background, framed against a vast blue sky. It is difficult to tell where the mountains end and the sky begins. Indeed, the horses are the focal point of the composition, as their riders appear ethereal, almost ghostly. The bold use of black to depict all the horses serves to further juxtapose their solidity against the ephemerality of the rest of the scene. Despite the composition’s simplicity, it is brought to life with Brasilier’s loose, emotive brushstrokes and energetic color palette that reveal his expressionist influences. Horses are a frequent motif in Brasilier’s artworks. He has described them as “a superb creation... charged with symbolism, strength, dynamism and beauty,” qualities that lend themselves well to the artist’s highly emotional vision of nature.

Born to two accomplished artists, Brasilier was naturally drawn to painting, and at the age of 20, he moved to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. Brasilier has received several prestigious awards, including the 1952 Prix Florence Blumenthal and the 1953 Prix de Rome. He is also one of only two artists (the other being Pablo Picasso) honored with a retrospective at Saint Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum during their lifetime. He has exhibited works alongside legends such as Picasso, Braque, Chagall and Miro, and he is represented in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).

This painting is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Alexis Brasilier.