Two-horse race
There are actually two horses in this well-known painting by the early-20th century artist and designer Eric Ravilious: the chalk horse on the lush green hillside and the chugging iron one.
New romantics
It’s an artful collision of the old and the new, outlining a changing national identity in the interwar years. The nostalgia factor is made obvious in the gently pagan landscape, hills lilting rather than looming. Elsewhere, gridded grey fields suggest a new world of geometric abstract art and industry.
Mysterious youth
The fact that the Westbury Horse’s roots likely go back no further than the 18th century creates another layer, highlighting a collective longing for some mysterious lost past.
A kind of magic
Yet, while he plays with quaintness, Ravilious also deals in the strange, from the rippling, drunk curves and toy-sized train to the close grey sky.
Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, to 17 September
