(Horse and Train by Alex Colville, born 1920, Canadian
Magic Realist painter)
This most unusual painting is a widely recognized image in Canada.
It was sparked by two incongruous lines in a poem written by a South African poet in 1949 in honor of his wife. The rather old-fashioned poem seems to be an exhortation to examine critically the traditions we live by before accepting them as guides to follow.
The painting, on the other hand, presents a surreal scenario of choices, for the horse and for the engineer in control of the train.
from DEDICATION TO MARY CAMPBELL
Against a regiment I oppose a brain
And a dark horse against an armored train.
~ Roy Campbell (1901-1957), Anglo-African poet
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