Peter Winants discusses The Sporting Art of Franklin B. Voss

For many years Peter Winants, a native of Maryland, photographed horses for advertising purposes and took pictures of horse racing and other horse sports for various magazines. In 1972 he joined the staff of The Chronicle of the Horse, a national weekly magazine based in Virginia, and, in time, became the editor, then publisher. After retiring from the Chronicle in 1991 at age sixty-five, Winants became the director of the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia, for nine years. He is now director emeritus of the library, which has one of the world's largest collections of books on horses, horsemanship, and associated field sports.

Winants' first book, published by Winants Brothers Inc. in 1966, concerned the American steeplechase horse Jay Trump, who won the 1965 English Grand National. In 1989 Winants authored the biography of steeplechase champion Flatterer, published by The Chronicle of the Horse. Derrydale Press published Winants' Steeplechasing: A Complete History of the Sport in North America in 2000 and Foxhunting with Melvin Poe in 2002. The Sporting Art of Franklin B. Voss is Winants' fith book.

Winants resides in Rectortown, Virginia, near Middleburg.

As you recount in the book, you knew the Voss family, including Frank, when you were growing up, and knew them as avid horse people. Tell us about your connection to the Voss family. Any particular memories of Frank Voss?

Frank was a contemporary and close friend of my parents. At that point in my life, horses were all-important, and I particularly looked up to seniors that were prominent in foxhunting and steeplechase racing, including members of the Voss family.

Frank traveled extensively in his work, so I didn’t know him as well as his brother Stuart, who was always nice to the young, and I knew Ned and Elsa Voss well because their son, Eddie, was a contemporary and close friend of my brother and me.

When did you first discover Franklin Voss’ art or realize that he was an artist? What was your first impression of his work?

Several of Frank’s paintings were hung in prominence in my parents’ home, so I was aware of Frank’s art at an early age. From childhood, it was ingrained in me that Frank was the best equine painter in the business, at least in America, no doubt about it. As evidence of my longtime enthusiasm, early in my career as a journalist -- 35 years ago -- I wrote an article extolling Frank’s art for The Maryland Horse magazine.

What do you admire most about Voss’ artistry now?

I admire Frank’s uncanny ability to capture the likeness of his subjects. I can speak to this because I personally knew many of the subjects in my book. I’m also in awe of his attention to detail, and the correctness of detail. Only a true horseman could have achieved this. I also admire the landscapes in many of Frank’s paintings. (The landscapes) create depth, leading one into a painting. Finally, looking at Frank’s paintings as a fellow horseman, his work, particularly the foxhunting scenes, stirs my blood and makes me want to jump right in and be part of the fun.

Why do you think a book on Franklin Voss and his art has never been done before?

I feel it’s a great oversight that a book had not previously been done on Voss, and I’m delighted that I was given the opportunity to right this oversight.

Which are your favorite Voss paintings in the book and what makes them favorites?

Of course I’m biased, because I’m its owner, but my favorite is Alligator, on the cover. It incorporates everything I admire in Voss’ art. Other favorites include the majesty of Man o’ War, and I’m fond of the portrait of J. Watson Webb, with Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks in the background. Also on my list are informal pictures such as the little girl and her pony, Liz Whitney bareback on her show hunter, the fox exiting Mill Swamp, the Elkridge-Harford pack in full cry, and the basset hound at work.

How did you find owners of his artwork and what other research did you do into his life?

An exhibition of Voss’ art at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting in 1999 had a fine cross-section of Voss’ work, all under one roof, which gave me insight into the extent of his art. Additionally, ads placed in The Blood-Horse and The Chronicle of the Horse seeking the whereabouts of paintings unveiled ones that I had no idea existed. Furthermore, art dealers such as Turner Reuter, Peter Villa, and Greg Ladd were extremely helpful.

What do you hope readers and art admirers will take away from this book?

More than 50 years have gone by since Frank’s death. Therefore, I feel it’s important that members of the current and future generations of art lovers and sportsmen be reminded of his work. I feel that they will share my enthusiasm for his art, and that through the essays on the subjects, they will gain insight into the era in which Voss worked, which certainly was the heyday of sporting life in America.

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