"Equestrian" (1983) by Felix Innokentievich Belsky captures the speed and force of steeplechase through stripped-down, expressionist design. A massive horse and rider dominate the canvas mid-leap, their bodies stretched and abstracted to emphasize power over realism.
The pair fills the upper two-thirds of the frame. Their forward thrust pulls the viewer into the motion. A brick-red obstacle anchors the bottom edge—both a barrier and a springboard—driving the eye upward and reinforcing the jump’s tension.
Belsky pares everything down to rhythm and shape. The composition recalls Matisse’s *Dance* (1910)—not in subject, but in colour and pulse. Below the central leap, smaller horses and riders echo the motion in looser cadence. The result is musical: motion turns into pattern.
There’s a clear nod to the Russian avant-garde. Flat colour, sharp outlines, geometric simplification—these elements recall Malevich and Suprematism. The burgundy horse, outlined in white, cuts across an electric blue sky. The contrast sharpens the motion, as if the figure is ripping through space.
That precision—capturing speed and mass with so little—speaks to Belsky’s training under Evgeny Kibrik at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute. Kibrik’s influence shows in the discipline of the line and the clarity of the scene.
Felix Innokentievich Belsky (1929–2009) graduated from the Moscow Institute in 1968 and was a longtime member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. He participated in nearly 80 exhibitions across Eastern Europe, Mongolia, and India. In 1991, he held a solo show in the U.S., and in 2007, he was inducted into the Russian Academy of Arts.
