Polo

Created over ten years before her well-known and admired Polo Series, this original etching is a triumph of Boulanger’s artistic representation of the sport. Foregoing her familiar integration of her round-faced characters, the emotional emphasis of this piece lies in the faces of the horses—each one conveying their own unique expressions. The dark horse in the background with its bared teeth and furrowed brow, rears up as its jockey approaches the ball while the brown horse by his side appears to leap from the page. The fantastically colored red and green horses in the foreground are wide eyed as they try and keep the ball from the opposing team—all four jockeys have their heads bowed as they follow the trajectory of the ball, their mallets at the ready to gain control of the game.