Der Blaue Reiter III

About Der Blaue Reiter III

This surrealistic oil painting by Toni Hamel references the English tradition of the fox hunt.

This visually compelling work by Toni Hamel was inspired by the early twentieth-century German Expressionist group, Wassily Kandinsky among them, called Der Blaue Reiter. (‘The Blue Rider’ in English.) Hamel’s artwork often explores important topics that include the natural environment, societal standards and our own psychological demons. In this oil painting, a rider, dressed in traditional equestrian clothes, sits on a blue coloured horse that has no legs and appears to float above several hound dogs.
The colour palette is rich—blue, red, and earthy tones against a moss green backdrop, framed by bare trees. Surrealism liberates Hamel from conventional imagery and allows her the freedom to create her own distinctive visual language.

“This is the third of a series of paintings whose title references the German Expressionist group (1911-1914) by the same name. Whereas their aim was to express feelings of alienation and unease ailing their time, my interpretation calls to mind the horrific (and thankfully now banned) fox hunts in England. The horse has no legs, and the hounds are wandering aimlessly, awaiting their command from the rider. The scene seems to be set on a theatrical stage, emphasizing the absurdity of the entire historical event.” Toni Hamel

Toni Hamel was born in Italy in 1961. In the early 1980s, she acquired a BFA from the Accademia di Belle Arti of Lecce in Italy. Upon arriving in Canada, she furthered her studies and attained a post-graduate Certificate in Computer Graphics from Sheridan College (Canada, 1991).
The recipient of several awards, among others, she received the Golden Key National Honour Society Award from the University of Toronto (Specialist Programme in Psychology, 1997) and the Lubiam Prize (Milan, 1983).
Her work has been exhibited in public and commercial galleries in Canada, the USA, and Europe. It is included in the public collections of Mr. J.J. Abrams, Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, Ms. Julia Roberts, the Archives of Ontario/Government of Ontario, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, the Omer DeSerres Corporation, as well as many private international collections. Toni Hamel lives and works in Kingston, Ontario.