August equine art exhibit in Spa City to showcase
40 watercolors by self-taught octogenarian painter

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By Ann Hauprich

One might think an 88-year-old equine artist whose portfolio credits include nearly 2,000 titles would have run out of subject matter by now. Well, hold your horses and think again!

Among the 40 masterpieces by R.C. Ewell being showcased in an August exhibit at the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center are many freshly created watercolors that promise to astonish racing fans who thought they’d seen it all.

Titled At the Barns, Mostly, the month-long show at 297 Broadway will officially open Friday, August 2 with a 5:30 to 8 p.m. reception during which Ewell and Barbara, his wife of nearly seven decades, will be on hand to socialize.

Rising before dawn, the self-taught artist draws inspiration from “the infinite variations in contrast, color and depth of the early morning light” as life gently unfolds along the Oklahoma training track that straddles his backyard. The resulting brush strokes exquisitely detail everything from the beauty and temperament of the thoroughbreds to the folks responsible for their training and care.

Inspirations for new works at the 2019 exhibit run the gamut from hot walkers to early morning fog. “Hot walking,” reflects Ewell, “is an omnipresent occupation -- virtually every horse, every day. Even so, after many years of seeing this activity, I am still attracted to it. One image in this year’s show stemmed from the high contrast of early morning sun on the quiet scene. Fog, on the other hand, is a frequent morning visitor to the track. The silhouette of horses with their riders as they emerge or fade into the fog also provided treasured scenes. One such image catches riders taking their charges through the gap onto the track for morning workout.”

Additional works depict scenes that occurred at 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon rather than at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Others were inspired by the artist’s childhood memories of peering through the fences on The Spa City’s east side to catch a peek at the ponies during their morning workout rituals.

The exhibit also includes some familiar faces as they were captured on canvas during earlier Saratoga racing seasons. Personal favorites include watercolors of a casually attired Marylou Whitney, who will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on August 2, at the rail with world-renowned Thoroughbred trainer Nick Zito. Another painting depicts Hall of Fame trainer William “Bill” Mott patting the neck of one of his rider’s horses several years before winning the 2019 Kentucky Derby

To learn more, please call 518-584-4572.