Four Horses Study

In Four Horses Study, Alvi Siren explores the structure, rhythm, and presence of four horses through expressive line and partially resolved form. Set against a pale blue-white ground, the composition brings together four overlapping horse heads whose contours emerge, dissolve, and reappear across the surface, creating a dynamic interplay between drawing and painting.

The horses are suggested through sweeping strokes of reddish-brown, blue-grey, white, and black. Rather than fully modelling each animal, Alvi focuses on essential shapes and gestures. Ears, eyes, muzzles, and necks are indicated with confident lines, allowing the forms to remain fluid and open. The overlapping heads create a sense of movement and connection, as though the horses are gathering within the same shifting space.

The pale background contributes strongly to the atmosphere of the work. Soft blue and white passages surround the horses, while traces of earlier marks remain visible, reinforcing the study-like character of the composition. The surface reveals the artist’s process, with lines being adjusted, layered, and rediscovered as the image develops.

Despite its unfinished appearance, the painting possesses a strong sense of unity. The repeated horse forms create a rhythmic composition in which observation, memory, and gesture coexist. The work becomes less a traditional equestrian portrait and more an exploration of how horses can be expressed through movement, contour, and painterly immediacy.

In Four Horses Study, Alvi Siren transforms the horse into a living form of line and colour. Through expressive drawing, overlapping silhouettes, and an open painterly approach, the work captures the vitality of four horses suspended between emergence and abstraction.