"The Canal Turn"

by Cecil Aldin

Paper Size: 26 x 16 ins 65 x 40 cm
Image Size: 22 x 11 ins 56 x 29 cm

Gouttelette Print

This is one of a set of four views Cecil Aldin painted of the Grand National, which were published by Richard Wyman in 1920. The others in the series are The First Open Ditch, Bechers Brook and Valentines Brook. The Grand National in 1920 was a particularly exciting race, in which only five horses finished. The winner was Troytown at 6 to 1, ridden by Mr Jack Anthony and trained by Algy Anthony. The Canal Turn is negotiated twice during the Grand National, as the eighth and twenty-fourth fences. It is notable particularly for the sharp left hand turn which the riders have to take as soon as they have negotiated the fence. The turn is almost a right angle and it is not uncommon for jockeys to be unseated as they lose their balance, which has obviously happened in this case. This is a particularly unusual subject by Cecil Aldin, because he actually includes himself in the picture, on the left, with his groom. Later in his career, Aldin often sketched from a coach, which he had swapped with a friend, Godfrey Heseltine, in return for a life-size portrait of a heavyweight basset. Thereafter, the Aldins often used the coach as a grandstand at race meetings like the Grand National or Derby, enabling the artist to watch and sketch in peace, high above the crowds

Watermark does not appear on actual print