Happy 2015 to our readers! We have several items to report pertaining to our favorite antebellum equine artist, Edward Troye.

First, in follow up to our previous post regarding the impending sale of one of Troye’s portraits of Kentucky, the painting ultimately sold for $15,000 at the 2nd Sporting Art Auction, held November 19, 2014, at the Keeneland Sales Pavillion. Although we would love to have this work hanging in the Times offices, unfortunately the winning bid was significantly more than the size of our coffers, and the portrait now resides with a very lucky patron.

If you’re kicking yourself for not having seen Troye’s portrait of Kentucky in person, you still have a chance to view a lithograph of this East Coast champ, one of the best sons of the mighty Lexington. The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky in Lexington is now featuring the exhibition, Edward Troye: Theme and Variation, consisting of a series of 10 lithograph reproductions of Troye’s paintings. Equine greats represented there include Kentucky of course, as well as Asteroid, Enquirer, Bertrand, Lexington, Longfellow, Leamington, Ruthless, Reel and Trifle. The exhibition just opened on Saturday, and runs through Sunday, April 12, 2015—Troye enthusiasts coming to Lexington for Keeneland’s 2015 Spring race meeting can easily catch this show!

Speaking of Enquirer and imported Leamington—the former being the greatest son of the latter—the Times recently toured Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville, the site of the infamous Belle Meade Stud of the Harding family, where Enquirer was a successful sire. Named after the Cincinnati Enquirer, the colt was the best 3-year-old of 1870, yet this winner of the Kenner Stakes at Saratoga and the Phoenix Hotel Stakes at Lexington had his career cut short by injury at age four. In 1879 he was acquired by Belle Meade, where he remained until his death in 1895. Two years later John R. McLean, publisher of the newspaper for which the horse was named, erected the monument in his memory [pictured] that stands on the property.

Troye painted Enquirer in 1870 for his then-owner, General Abe Buford of Woodford County, Kentucky. The artist also painted a number of Harding horses at Belle Meade, including Jack Malone (1869); Vandal (1869), whose painting hangs at the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga Springs;  and the celebrated mare Gamma (1843), the portrait of whom keeps its home in the front hall of the Belle Meade mansion.

Last, but not least! The Times is pleased to announce that it has an article featured in the forthcoming January/February 2015 issue of American Racehorse magazine on the topic of—you guessed it—Edward Troye. The article highlights the two extensive exhibitions that are now taking place at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia: Edward Troye and His Biographers: The Archive of Harry Worcester Smith & Alexander Mackay-Smith, which runs until February 22, 2015; and Faithfulness to Nature: Paintings by Edward Troye (1808-1874), which concludes on March 29, 2015. Catch these important exhibitions while you can! A direct link to the American Racehorse article will be posted once available.

 

Sincerely,
Editor, Antebellum Turf Times