Painted in 1937-38, the present work is a wonderful example of one of De Chirico’s most iconic mythological motifs: that of horses by the sea. In this delightful and dramatic work, the artist uses a bold palette which complements the expressionistic modelling of the bucking horse. As with all of his best work, the artist incorporates an enigmatic, surrealist complexity to the painting, which transcends the narrative of the imagery. Jean Cocteau summarised this quality when he pronounced that 'de Chirico no longer needs to paint Pegasus. A horse by the sea – with its colour, its eyes and its mouth – assumes the significance of myth' (Jean Cocteau, 1928, quoted in Giorgio Ruggeri (ed.), Pictor Optimus Pinxit, Bologna, 1979, p. 38, translated from the Italian).