André Brasilier, one of the few living of the School of Paris, has grown up with horses since childhood. He lived in Louqeigne near forests, meadows and beaches after his marriage. Therefore, horses and knights became major sources of his inspiration throughout his artistic career, which transformed into a classic motif in his oeuvre. The horizontal composition is more commonly seen amongst the artist’s paintings of horses, henceforth the current lot, Quatres cavaliers, a vertical composition spanning nearly 2 meters in height, is a rare masterpiece to come to market. The vertical composition emulates a strong sense of depth; the branches extending from the upper left corner effectively divides the composition into front, middle and background, echoing the pursuit of ‘three segments’ often seen in traditional Chinese landscape paintings. Quatres cavaliers is a classic representation of the artist’s horse paintings with extremely collectable value.
The scene of Quatre cavaliers is divided by the vibrant colors. The blue sky is dyed pink by the sunset, and the ocean and forest is depicted with enchanting blue and green colors. The hanging branches recall the brushstrokes of the Impressionist master Monet, while the style of the horses reflects the style of Chinese Han Dynasty stone rubbing art. With his light and translucent brushstrokes and colours, Brasilier imitates the texture of watercolour with oil painting, creating a poetic, harmonious aesthetic that conveys the artist’s vivid imagination and emotions.
Quatres cavaliers was extensively exhibited during the 1990s, including the artist’s solo exhibition in Galerie Etienne Sssi, Paris, Daimaru Museum in Tokyo, and André Brasilier à Bagatelle, the artist’s solo exhibition held in Bagatelle Paris. This work is recorded in the exhibition catalogue in all the above exhibitions, showcasing the significance of this work to the artist’s career.
「巴黎畫派」碩果僅存的在世名家安德烈·布拉吉利為自小便在家鄉與馬匹一起生活，婚後居於鄰近森林、草地和沙灘的城市盧佩涅（Loupeigne）。因此其生活環境、馬匹與騎士成為他畢生創作的靈感來源，亦為其筆下經典主題。藝術家筆下的馬匹作品中，較常見為橫向構圖的群馬奔騰的宏大遠景。《四騎士》尺幅高達近兩米，且以罕見垂直構圖，在國際拍場上難得一見，相似作品近三年僅有兩張。垂直構圖縱深強烈，左上角的垂枝將畫面分為前、中、後景，與中國山水畫追求的「三遠」法不謀而合。《四騎士》代表了藝術家的經典馬匹系列中的珍罕佳作，別具收藏價值。《四騎士》畫面被絢爛的色彩分割，遠景粉藍色天空在夕陽的照耀下映出粉紅彩霞，海洋與山林以深藍和綠色描繪，左上角的垂枝帶有印象派大師莫奈之筆意，馬匹寫意形態承接漢代磚畫，具有東方氣韻。其筆觸與色彩跨越油畫媒介，渲染出水彩般自由韻致，有馬克·羅斯科抽象表現主義朦朧艷彩渲染的元素，富有詩意與和諧美，盡顯浪漫主義強調內在情感與想像的傳達，實為珍罕之作。
《四騎士》曾於九十年代在多個展覽中接連展出，包括一九九〇年展出於法國巴黎艾蒂安薩西畫廊（Galerie Etienne Sassi）、一九九二年分別展出於日本東京大丸美術館和法國巴黎《布拉吉利與巴加泰勒》回顧展、一九九四年展出於法國芒通卡諾萊王宮美術館的作品展，以及一九九五年展出於法國梅斯軍火庫的作品展，以上展出均著錄於展覽圖錄。足見本作為藝術家此創作階段的重要作品。