The rider

Christian Speyer is mainly known for his works of horses, of which this is a handsome example. A student of Haeberlin at the Stuttgart School of Art, he travelled to Italy and Tunisia, returning to Munich in 1883. He resided in the centres of artistic endeavour of the period including Paris, Vienna and Berlin. Speyer was also one of the Munich Secessionists, which is reflected on an old label on the reverse. His works are housed in the museums of Stuttgart, Zurich and Strasbourg.