Cameron Booth (1892–1980)
Horse, 1964. Charcoal on paper.
A charcoal drawing depicting a lone spotted horse standing calmly in profile before a barn or stable structure. The animal faces left, head slightly lowered, its dappled markings rendered with confident tonal variation — dark patches on the flank, shoulder, and face contrasting against the pale body. The horse occupies the center of the composition with a settled, unhurried presence.
The background is handled economically: heavy horizontal beams suggest a barn roof above, while a deeply shadowed doorway or stall opening anchors the right side with dense crosshatched marks. The ground is lightly indicated beneath the horse's hooves. The overall effect is spare but complete — nothing extraneous, nothing missing.
Booth's lifelong affinity for horses is well documented, and works featuring them are among his most sought after. By 1964 he was 72, long established as the dean of Minnesota artists, and this drawing reflects the ease of a draughtsman utterly comfortable with his subject — observational and grounded, a deliberate counterpoint to the bold abstraction he pursued simultaneously in paint and print. The deckled edges of the paper and the hand-ruled border give it a sketchbook intimacy that feels entirely intentional.

By 1964 Booth had stepped back from full-time teaching but remained an active and nationally exhibiting artist.