Walton Ford's new series of paintings, on view at Gagosian in New York through April 19, centers on the Marchesa Luisa Casati and her two cheetahs. The works depict the Milanese heiress and Futurist muse in early 20th-century Venice, but the animals—not the glamorous woman—command the focal point. Ford, known for subverting natural history illustration, uses watercolor to balance trompe-l'oeil realism with painterly abandon, developing the characters across multiple canvases with Italian titles referencing literature by Casati's lover, poet Gabriele D'Annunzio.
The exhibition matters because it marks a shift in Ford's practice: while he has long used animals to mirror human dramas and critique scientific authority, these new works bring a human actor explicitly into the scene. By foregrounding the cheetahs' experience over Casati's allure, Ford challenges traditional portraiture and extends his exploration of decadence, animality, and the violence behind representation. The show also demonstrates Ford's continued relevance in contemporary painting, blending historical research with lush, psychologically charged imagery.