The Horse Mart

Robert Polhill Bevan, 1865–1925

1917 to 1918

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

Several men in a stable are gathered around two horses, one white and one brown. The scene appears to be a horse mart or auction. Horses were a central part of daily life in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Bevan depicted scenes of horse auctions and working horses to show how different social classes interacted. He included visual symbols, such as different hats and clothing, to suggest social identity, from city professionals to working-class grooms. Bevan’s paintings capture a world on the brink of change as cars began to replace animals. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection