A few days before the Year of the Horse officially begins in the Chinese zodiac, Acquavella Galleries, along with PALMER, invited guests to gather on a beautiful sunny Palm Beach afternoon–the sort long expected this time of year but lately absent from the thermometer, falling iguanas and all–for a conversation marking the opening of Soft Reins, Acquavella Palm Beach’s newest exhibition.
Held in the courtyard of the Royal Poinciana Plaza, the discussion brought together gallery director Michael Findlay, artist and guest curator Tomokazu Matsuyama, and PALMER editorial director Stefano Tonchi. Among those in attendance were art and design figures including Victoria Hagan and Beth DeWoody, alongside collectors and patrons who continue to shape Palm Beach’s growing cultural landscape.
The conversation centered on the enduring presence of the horse in art history and why that image continues to hold weight today. Matsuyama spoke about equestrian iconography as a visual language that has traveled across cultures and centuries. From Western academic painting to Japanese woodblock traditions, the horse has served as a carrier of power, mythology, migration, and collective identity. In his own practice, Matsuyama reinterprets that lineage through layered references, collapsing art historical traditions into a contemporary visual syntax.
Findlay expanded on the exhibition’s broader arc, which places Impressionist and modern masters in dialogue with contemporary artists. Works by Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, Roy Lichtenstein, Marino Marini, Lucian Freud, Derek Fordjour, and Hank Willis Thomas underscore how the equestrian motif has been continually reimagined.
The conversation also examined how the image of horse and rider shifts meaning across contexts, politics, and eras, with Tonchi drawing attention to the exhibition’s title and suggesting “soft reins” as a metaphor for restraint and exchange rather than dominance, reframing the equestrian figure as a site of cultural negotiation.
Soft Reins is on view at Acquavella Palm Beach, 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite M309, through March 22, 2026, offering visitors the opportunity to consider how an ancient symbol continues to evolve in contemporary hands.
