The Black Reins by Adele A. N. Art
Explore Mondoir Studio
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 90 x 60 cm
Year: 2022
Price: $5500.00 USD
Status: available
Power is not in motion, but in control. These reins, black as obsidian, symbolise the human instinct to dominate the wild — within and without. They are not tools of suppression, but of direction: the art of guiding chaos without breaking its spirit. In Kitāb al-Suwaydāʾ, the Black Reins mark the transition between myth and mastery — the point where the seeker learns that control is a conversation, not a command. They belong to those who ride their own shadows rather than being dragged by them.
Why collect this work?
The horse’s dark head nearly merges with the ground, while fine highlights isolate its eye, mane and muzzle. This restricted visibility turns a conventional animal portrait into a study of power held in suspension rather than displayed through action.
- The artist profile describes Adele A. N. Art’s practice as figurative and symbolic, with shadow used as a narrative element. Here, that approach clarifies why concealment carries as much weight as anatomical description.
- The close crop excludes any rider and gives the lowered, angled head most of the canvas. Although the title names reins, they are not clearly distinguishable in the supplied photograph, leaving control implied rather than visibly secured.
- Catalogued as oil on canvas, the medium permits gradual transitions between dense darkness and narrow highlights. Those transitions articulate the horse without fully separating its body from the surrounding field.
- The artist’s description frames the reins as direction rather than suppression. The work is especially pertinent where representations of animals, mastery and agency are examined, because its central instrument of control remains visually uncertain.
About the Artist
Adele A. N. Art
Adele A. N. Art is an artist on Mondoir Studio. Artistic discipline: painting. Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Nationality: Saudi
Symbolic figurative paintings exploring memory, silence, and feminine inner power
