'I believe that what lies beneath the image is a passion for The Horse, and a profound communion with nature, as deeply felt as any 19th century poet.'
- Adriana Zaefferer
Adriana Zaefferer is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, born into a family of lawyers and doctors, is one of the most admired and collected equestrian artists in the world. She is happiest exploring wild country, such as Patagonia, on horseback, with her local friends, headgear of choice a riding hat made in Argentina, as protection from strong sun and mountain winds.
Her family had no interest in horses, but Adriana’s passion was fired by long summers spent on the family’s property in the foothills of the Andes, where she grew up with the Mapuche, native people who taught her to ride, chose her first horse, and became her closest companions.
She began drawing horses as soon as she could pick up a pencil. She taught herself to draw them from life or from memory. By the age of sixteen her talent was recognised by Argentina’s foremost owner and breeder, Julio Menditeguy, who asked her to paint several of his prizewinning horses. She had considered becoming a vet, abandoning this idea, but the knowledge of equine anatomy was not wasted. Without any formal academic training or even a studio apprenticeship, Adriana mastered the techniques of pastel drawing, oil painting, printmaking and sculpture, even bronze casting.
At first she specialised in horse portraits, and her list of subjects reads like a Who’s Who of thoroughbreds. Later she learnt to paint groups of horses accompanied by their grooms, trainers, riders and owners, as well as racing scenes and polo matches.
On her first visit to London aged nineteen, assisted by family connections, she made friends for life with important owners and breeders in the racing community. She painted their winning mounts, legendary stallions, polo champions. Even HM Queen Elizabeth, supreme connoisseur of all things equine, commissioned her to paint several favourites.
As a successful young artist, and recognition by racing grandees, her life changed. For about ten years she would spend nine months of each year sketching in or around the stables, racetracks and polo fields of Europe, especially in Great Britain returning to South America only in winter. Like Sir Alfred Munnings, whose art she admires, she will observe horses tirelessly, sometimes for days on end, sketching them both at rest and in motion.