HEAVY HORSES are widely represented in art. Every country that can lay some claim to this most magnificent heavy horse breed, has works by famous artists on their national register. 
The power and grace of these willing workers has inspired artists through the generations and western society owes a great debt to these handsome creatures. 
George Lambert won the Wynne Prize for landscapes in 1899 with his painting ‘Across the blacksoil plains’. It is an ambitious work, over three metres in length, which depicts a large team of horses in harness pulling a loaded wagon across a paddock. 
Anna Grey, the Head of Australian Art at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in 2007 unpacks the painting for us:
“By portraying the rhythmic rise and fall of the horses’ heads and the tilt of the wagon, Lambert created a sense of movement in his image. The horses strain as they pull the load through the mud which sticks to their hoofs like glue, with the leader leaning into the chains to pull others into line.” 
“Lambert dramatised the scene by placing the horses in silhouette against the sky and using the ‘chiaroscuro’ of light and dark, showing the light making its way through the billowing clouds and illuminating the horses’ backs. 
“In adopting a low viewpoint, Lambert also made the team dominate the image. Apart from the blue in the sky the painting is a harmony of tonally balanced browns, beiges and white.”
The painting was acquired by the Art Gallery of NSW for its collection. Considered ‘a heroic portrayal of bush life’ in the 19th century, this important painting is on display in the gallery’s Grand Courts.
Lloyd Rees (1895-1988) was a pre-eminent landscape artist of his time. Skilled as a painter, printmaker and draughtsman, Lloyd Rees liked to sketch Clydesdales. His drawing ‘Pair of Clydesdales’ resides in the collection of the Art Gallery of NSW along with a number of Sydney city street scenes from the 20th century featuring this heritage breed in harness.
In 2019, Jimmy D’Vate painted his tribute to three Clydesdales, Clem, Sam and Banjo for his silo painting in the small town of Goorambat in Victoria’s High Country. The work now forms an important part of Australia’s Silo Art Movement. The movement connects remote communities and testifies to the unwavering spirit of Regional Australia. 
Our town of Boonah has its own monument to the contribution heavy horses have made to the local community. ‘Clydebuilt’ was created in Boonah’s Old Butter Factory in 2003 by Scottish-born sculptor Andrew Scott who has a great love of the Clydesdale breed. 
‘Clydebuilt’ has marked the entrance to Boonah township for over twenty years,
“It was one of my first heavy horse sculptures and the precedent for several artworks based on the Clydesdale breed,” said Scott.
Since his time in Boonah, Scott has gone on to create the largest equine sculpture in the world. 
‘The Kelpies’ in Falkirk Scotland have become an icon in that region. The twin sculptures were modelled on two memorable Clydesdales, Duke and Baron. 
Now, after a 20 year interlude, Andrew Scott is returning to Boonah for the Clydesdale Spectacular at the Boonah Showgrounds this week. 

For your chance to meet the creator of ‘Clydebuilt’, organisers of the Clyd