Franklin Brooke Voss (American, 1880-1953)
SET OF 12 RACING PRINTS
18 1/4" x 22 1/2" each
Signed and numbered, Ed. of 260 The complete set of Hand Coloured Prints After Original Paintings of Famous American Thoroughbreds by Franklin Brooke Voss includes the original leather bound case. This is set no. 73 of 260.
In Richard Stone Reeves' introduction to Crown Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing, Franklin B. Voss is the only American artist mentioned by name among the other great equestrian artists over the past three centuries. Voss was held in such high esteem that his client list for commissions was a veritable "who's who" of the sporting world at the time. Given such popularity, it is no surprise that the rest of the public desired his work as well. In 1934 a set of 10 hand-colored prints of famous racehorses, after paintings by Voss, was offered for $250, and $30 for a single print.
Noted printmakers At the Sign of the Gosden Head, the same company that produced the popular prints of Edward Troye's work, published the set with the plan to release more in the following years. Gosden Head published the 11th print in 1936 and The Sporting Gallery and Bookshop Inc., New York published the 12th in 1940. Due to company buyouts, the series was discontinued. Each print was signed and numbered by Voss and in the lower right corner had a square painted in the owner's colors. At the bottom of each print is a biography of the horse written by legendary turf writer Neil "Roamer" Newman. Newman himself was so esteemed that a stakes race at New York's Jamaica Race Course was named in his honor. Roamer, the 1914 and 1915 Horse of the Year, was also named for him.
The list of each print subject, owner, and publication year is asfollows:
Man o' War - winner of the Travers Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, all in 1920. Owner - Samuel D. Riddle. 1934
Twenty Grand - winner of the Wood Memorial, Travers Stakes, Kentucky Derby, and Belmont Stakes, all in 1931. Owner - Greentree Stable. 1934
Equipoise - winner of the Havre de Grace, Whitney, Metropolitan, Arlington, and Suburban handicaps. Owner - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. 1934
Billy Barton - winner of the Maryland Grand National twice, Virginia Gold Cup, and Pennsylvania Hunt Cup. Owner - Howard Bruce. 1934
Blue Larkspur - winner of the 1929 Belmont Stakes, inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1957. Owner - Colonel Edward Riley Bradley. 1934
Sun Beau - Inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame, three times U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1929, 1930, 1931). Owner - Willis Sharpe Kilmer. 1934
Jolly Roger - winner of the Elkridge Steeplechase, twice winner of the American Grand National. Owner - Mrs. Payne Whitney. 1934
Exterminator - winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1957. Owner - J. Cal Milam and Willis Sharpe Kilmer. 1934
Top Flight - American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly (1931), American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly (1932). Owner - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. 1934
Gallant Fox - winner of the United States Triple Crown (1930) and 1957 Hall of Fame inductee. Owner - Belair Stud. 1934
Discovery - U.S. Champion Male Handicap Horse (1936) and Horse Racing Hall of Fame (1969). Owner - Adolphe Pons and Alfred G. Vanderbilt II. 1936
Seabiscuit - U.S. Champion Handicap Male (1937 & 1938), U.S. Horse of the Year (1938). Owner - Charles Howard. 1940