Jean-Louis Sauvat is not just a painter of horses, he is also a serious rider himself, and has collaborated in illustrating a number of very important books.

His illustrations to the bi-lingual (French and English) work, Horse and Rider: Annotated Sketches, by the late Nuno Oliveira, are simply breath-taking, capturing perfectly the poetry of the Portuguese master in word and action.

He has also supplied brilliant illustrations for three masters, in the series, Les grand maitres expliqués: Caprilli, Baucher and La Guérinière.

Sauvat’s Caprilli

Jean-Louis has also worked with another great French equestrian artist, Bartabas, crafting the sculptures for his performance, Tryptich, and more recently contributing sculptures and paintings in the re-opened stables of Louis XIV at Versailles.

Guérinière.

For Jean-Louis his art merges with his life: “I started painting people – nudes and portraits, the relationship between movement and women, and also landscapes. I started painting horses 15 years ago because I was asked by a rider. I had friends who were riders, so it started there.”

When did you start to work with Bartabas?

“I constructed the sculptures for Tryptich. Bartabas had seen a small plaster that I had made, and he contacted me because he had the idea of working with sculptures in his show.”

You ride yourself?

“Every morning, dressage – for pleasure. I like to start with young horses and work with them for four years, until they are ready for Prix St Georges, and then give them back to the owner. I ride them until they are ready to do the High School movements – then I give them back, and start again with a young horse. I ride for mysellf, not to go in competitions. My pleasure is to see the horse progress and learn the movements.”

And painting horses?

“I work mosrly on things that I find, the circus horse sculpture in my show, is from a horse that was just tied with a rope by the road and that is the inspiration, just a horse in a little circus out on the road.”