Aberdeen Angus Bull: Black Knight of Auchterarder, 1925
Bronze
8 1/4 x 13 3/4 x 5 in
Biography
Herbert Haseltine was born in Rome and raised in the prominent artistic and social milieu established by his father, William Stanley Haseltine, a noted landscape painter, and his mother, Helen Marshall Haseltine, an heiress, at the Palazzo Altieri. The Haseltines, though expatriates, chose an American secondary and college for their son. After graduating from the Westminster School in Connecticut, he attended Harvard University (his father’s alma mater), Herbert Haseltine returned to Europe in 1899. With a vague idea of perusing a career as an artist, he studied drawing for a time at The Royal Academy in Munich, at the Académie Julien in Paris, and privately in Rome. It was his fascination with horses, however, that led him to seek out training under the French history painter Aimé Nicolas Morot, known for his mastery in the depiction of animals. Morot instilled in his pupil the importance of a thorough knowledge and close observation of the subject in all its detail. Haseltine at first began to make clay models to assist in his compositions and study of form, but discovered he had a far greater natural affinity for modeling than painting. In 1906, at Morot’s suggestion, he submitted Riding Off, a bronze depiction of two horses and riders playing polo, to the Paris Salon, where it was not only accepted for exhibition, but it received Honorable Mention.
The early success, combined with his excellent social connections, brought the artist several commissions, including an order from King Edward VII of England (1841-1910, reigned 1901-1910) for a portrait of his charger, Kildare, and another from Queen Alexandra (1844-1925), his wife, for a portrait of her barouch horse, Splendour. These prestigious royal commissions firmly established Haseltine’s career as an animal sculptor.
