Eleanor, Winner of the Epsom Derby 1801, owned by
Sir Charles Bunbury, ridden by Saunders

Oil on board, signed with initials, inscribed on label on reverse

18.3 x 22.2 cms
7 1/4 x 8 3/4 ins

Richard Denew was an artist based in Charles Street, off Berkeley Square, London who specialised in genre, history and topographical subjects particularly in and around Rome and Venice in both oils and watercolours. However he also produced a number of racehorse portraits such as “Stockwell” and “Lottery” with jockeys up. This portrait of “Eleanor” was probably commissioned retrospectively of the winning of the Derby, possibly towards the end of the horse’s life.

He exhibited nineteen paintings at the Royal Society of Artists in Suffolk Street, six at the Royal Academy and two at other venues. They included tiles such as: “The Horse, as savage as the Mule, reared on its hind legs….”, “View of the Rialto on the Grand Canal, Venice”, “Temple of Mars Ultor”, “Neopolitan Fishermen – scene, Naples” and “View of Buckingham Palace from the Gardens”.