Do you all know the story of the Painted Ponies? The "original" group were near lifesized standing cast 'statues'; well-known artists from all over(but mostly in the SW, I think)were invited to paint one. A sponsor was needed in most cases, to cover the upfront costs(think the 'blank' casts of the horses cost @$1600! They first did a maquette-that is, a small-about a foot or so high-'model', then the fullsized version. An internationally known Taos artist, who is also a miniature horse owner and former breeder of some really top notch horses, did one. She is a friend of mine, and OH, how I wished I had lots of money when her horse, named "Taos NEIGHbors", came up for bids! I did LOVE it! It sold in the five figure range, as I recall(and not the 'lowest' 5 figures, either!)I don't recall the buyer, but it has never been available to reproduce in the small model form.
Apparently, it is up to whomever bought the original fullsized 'statue'/who owns it(some of even the 'originals' still haven't been actually sold, apparently)to give permission for it to be reproduced for the tiny models-that's why you won't see ALL of them available in the tiny form. A portion of the sale of all of the 'original' fullsized ones was designated to go to some charity or deserving receipient-but the guy who had the idea has made a LOT of money off of it....not sure what the artists got-mostly the publicity, I think...
Since the 'original' group, at least one different cast horse has been made(the 'running' one),a lot more horses have been painted, and the idea has been WIDELY copied, with differing animals-but it originated here in NM.
Probably more than you wanted to know, huh!!?? I just think it is always interesting to know the 'history'behind things....
: .Please don't let this be a Beanie Baby thing...lol So does anyone have any ponies they want to remove from their homes...lol If so you can PM me if you like...Not sure I can do this here...but I am sure I will know soon enough....
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