The Horse Paintings of Edward Troye

Nineteenth – Century Master Created Portraits of Prized Horses

Oct 3, 2009

From 1832 to 1872, Troye made portraits of some of America's most famous racing horses,some standardbreds but most thoroughbreds.

During his illustrious career, Troye created pictures of equines at the horse farms and race tracks of Virginia, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio and Maryland. His contemporaries consistently commented that his paintings very accurately captured the color of the horses.

Though many of his most famous paintings were commissions from wealthy horsemen, J. Winston Coleman Jr. wrote in Three Kentucky Artists that since Troye traveled extensively painting horses, whenever he needed money fast he painted average animals beloved by their ordinary owners. Because of Troye's associations and talent, he lived a comfortable life. After leaving Philadelphia, when he was not traveling to make his portraits, his base of operations was either Alabama or Kentucky.

Comes to the U. S. and Exhibits Some Paintings

Born in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1808 to French parents, Troye's widowed father moved to London with his children when Troye was a boy. The elder Troye was an artist who ensured that art lessons were part of his children's education. Interestingly, the earliest known surviving work of the junior Troye—created when he was a teenager—is a drawing of a mule and a goat.

His path to becoming the premier animal artist in nineteenth-century America was laid in 1832 when in May he exhibited three paintings of animals at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He had lived in Philadelphia since October 1831. Horse owner John Charles Craig saw the exhibited paintings and asked Troye to paint his horses. He painted them in the summer and the fall of 1832 at the races held at the Union Course on Long Island, where Troye met other thoroughbred owners.

In 1832 Troye made a small crayon drawing of Sir Henry. This was also the year he created his first important horse portrait. Trifle, Craig's famed racing mare, was the subject. Within a five-week period in the fall of 1834, Trifle would win a dozen straight races.Troye's painting shows her with her black jockey Willis in his silks and the horse's trainer, possibly William Alexander, also a black man.

On the large horse farms of the South before the Civil War many of the trainers, jockeys and grooms were black men. Troye's 1834 portrait of the Kentucky horse Richard Singleton shows him with black men Harry, Lew and Charles, respectively, the horse's trainer, jockey and groom. Captain Willa Viley, who lived near Georgetown, Kentucky, owned the horse.

Some of His Other Notable Horse Portraits

Troye also made portraits of Sir Archy and Bertrand, his son. Sir Archy, foaled in 1805, did well in races. Between 1823 and 1826, he won 13 of 15 starts. More importantly, Sir Archy was the first significant thoroughbred sire in the United States. In 1835 he was the leading sire and in 1834 and 1836 he was number two on the list.

In South Carolina, Troye painted Maria West, a mare whose descendent Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby in 1915. In 1864 he painted Abdallah who sired Hambletonian, the horse whose bloodline extends to almost all American trotters and pacers of today. Other notable standardbreds he painted were Dexter, Belmont , Dictator and Mambrino Pilot.

Troye painted Lexington in 1855. Lexington was a competitive Kentucky horse who was the leading thoroughbred sire in the United States from 1861 to 1875 as well as in 1876 and 1878. In 1870 when the horse was 20, Troye painted him again. The Lexington, KY – Horse Capital of the World webpage of the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau said that Troye painted Lexington at least 12 times.

Troye died on July 25, 1874 near Georgetown, Kentucky, leaving behind his widow Cornelia and daughter Anna.

Contemporary Honors for Troye

In 2008 Troye was elected an Immortal Honoree of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame of the United States Trotting Association and inducted in 2009. In 2010, some of Troye's work will be on display at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games to be held September 25 to October 10.

The copyright of the article The Horse Paintings of Edward Troye in Portrait Painting is owned by Linda N. Riggins. Permission to republish The Horse Paintings of Edward Troye in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.