Kinetic Energy

2013/06/05

By Natalie Townsend

Lee Baskerville was the featured artist for Nashville, Tennessee's 2013 Iroquois Steeplechase, the richest and most prestigious race on the National Steeplechase Circuit. Baskerville created his 2013 art piece “Kinetic Energy” exclusively for the Iroquois.

Baskerville paints real scenes from a life he knows, in a way that people can deeply appreciate and connect. He uses just enough detail to capture the essence of the moment – the intense feeling of energy in a horse’s stride.

“Kinetic Energy” took Baskerville over a year to complete. From preliminary studies to numerous drafts, the painting depicts a horse and his jockey set against the recognizable backdrop of the Iroquois grounds.

A rider and an avid foxhunter, Baskerville spends much of his time with horses. He believes that to paint a subject perfectly you must be deeply involved with it. For this reason, his favorite perspective is from the saddle. “If one waits for the action to come to them, one will always miss the spirit of the sporting world altogether,” said Baskerville.

The Virginia native has spent almost his entire life working in the art/sporting world. Beginning when he was only nine-years-old, Baskerville was commissioned for his first collection of work creating brochure illustrations for a South African safari company. The son of a safari guide, Baskerville spent childhood summers in rustic tent camps in southern Africa. This first project nurtured his aspiration to become a wildlife painter.

“My childhood dream was to paint wildlife, so I when I was working in the safari industry in my late teens, I would always take my Sundays to explore the private game reserve on which I worked merely to enjoy sketching the myriad wildlife,” said Baskerville. “I would pick a direction and walk 10 to 12 miles through the interior of the Savannah.  Eventually, I stopped wearing shoes to become quieter when I stalked animals, and I even got to the point where I would go out without a rifle – a magic life for a young man indeed. After earning a degree in Art History from the University of Virginia I settled on the more respected career of a commissioned society portraitist, and that has led to a lovely life ever since.”

Baskerville’s career continues to take him to far corners of the world today, as his artwork appears in American, English, Spanish, Dutch, Argentinian, Uruguayan, Portuguese, South African and Zimbabwean collections. Baskerville’s style is often compared to that of Sir Alfred Munnings, Anders Zorn and John Singer Sargent. Learn more about Lee Baskerville by visiting his website at www.leebaskerville.com. 
 
 

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