‘Horse Drawn Revisited’ On View At Municipal Center

“Horse Drawn Revisited,” a series of drawings executed in charcoal, monochromatic pastel, oil stick and selected burnt sienna wash, by the artist Ival Stratford-Kovner, quietly went on view at Newtown Municipal Center on April 12. It will remain on view until the end of the month.

A closing reception is scheduled for late afternoon on Monday, April 30. The artist will be present at the reception to discuss her work.

Troopers and mounts of The Second Company Governor’s Horse Guard, stationed less than a mile from the municipal center, provided both the inspiration and a unique artistic challenge.

“Large scale drawings of horse and rider immerse the viewer in mounted drills. Drawings incorporating dynamically hewn visions offer both gestural grace and fluidity,” said Ms Stratford-Kovner. “Atmospheric considerations couple with the psychologically compelling faces of focused riders in helmets and colonial-era uniforms. A simple fly mask obscuring the eyes of one horse offers a guarded sense of mystery.”

The show serves, said Ms Stratford-Kovner, to honor the historical significance of the horse and rider relationship.

The artist’s personal experience as a trooper and troop historian for two years in the horse guard provides the underlying narrative informing each drawing. Now in her late fifties, Ms Stratford-Kovner successfully convinced a Vietnam-era drill sergeant of her desire and ability to earn her spurs and to ride with the troop in active duty. The  resulting drawings, the basis of the exhibition, document this modern day period of cavalry life.

The artist has some favorite 2CHG:  DJ, still serving, was born the day of the artist’s wedding, which she discovered after being assigned the horse on her wedding anniversary at the guard; My Boy, who was her mount for 2008 Stamford Thanksgiving Day Parade (the drawing with his image actually blew off Ms Stratford-Kovner’s Jeep as she was transporting the artwork for the Newtown show, sailing through a field and landing next to a stream bank along a section of Route 302 appropriately named 2nd Co. Gov’s Horse Guard Memorial Highway; Dallas, a Red Cross Award-winning horse who is recalled in a poem Ms Stratford-Kovner wrote; and Coal, who was the inspiration for the artist’s springer’s name, Cole.

“Each horse in the troop has a unique personality and this makes drawing them exciting,” said Ms Stratford-Kovner.

Ms Stratford-Kovner earned her BFA from Boston University College of Fine Arts, and her MFA at Western Connecticut University. An award9-winning artist, she has had her work exhibited her work at numerous galleries and institutions including Blue Mountain, Mobius, TremontSix, and Boston University Galleries,  Oxford University, Wellesley College, and Harvard Medical School.

Ms Stratford-Kovner is was a DeCordova Museum School instructor for ten years and  taught at Rivier, Bunker Hill and Newbury Colleges.  Each spring, she conducts a painting workshop for cancer survivors at Stowe Days of Hope in Stowe, Vt.

She has been featured in articles in The Boston Globe and Arts New England, and she does most of her work in her studio in a converted barn in Bethel.

“Horse Drawn Revisited” was featured at Blue Mountain Gallery in Chelsea, N.Y., in August 2011. One of the drawings from the exhibition was featured as a full-page presentation in The New York Summer Gallery Guide Magazine.

“Daumier comes to mind when viewing her campaign-hat-clad troopers,” commented Professor Ed Smith of Marist University when reviewing Ival’s work during his residency at Vermont Studio Center. Professor Sydney Hurtwitz, formerly Dean of Boston University CFA,  in awarding Ival first prize in drawing at a nationally juried show at South Shore Art Center in Massachusetts, commented on the strength and power of her drawings.”

The collection was originally scheduled to be presented in Newtown last fall, with a targeted opening date of October 31.

“But the storm came in full blast and I decided to cancel and asked for an April date, concerned that we would have a terrible winter,” Ms Stratford-Kovner said this week. “I am pleased that I am finally having the work in Newtown, across from the horse guard.”

The artist has promised to donate a portion of each work sold to the Second Co. Governor’s Horse Guard, and to programs that benefit disabled military veterans returning from service in Connecticut.

Newtown Municipal Center is in the center of Fairfield Hills, at 3 Primrose Street. The building is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm.