MIDDLEBURG, VA.- The National Sporting Library & Museum announced that Nic Fiddian Green: Spiritus Equus, the first-ever retrospective of the acclaimed British sculptor's equine works, has been extended through February 21, 2027. Originally scheduled to close on September 12, 2026, the exhibition will remain on view for several additional months due to popular demand, giving visitors an extended opportunity to experience this landmark presentation.
Since 2012, Fiddian Green's monumental sculpture Still Water (2011) has greeted visitors at the entrance to the NSLM's Museum, becoming emblematic of the institution itself. To create the iconic nine-foot-tall horse head, the artist hammered sheets of lead, then secured them with copper rivetsa technique representative of his decades-long engagement with a striking range of materials, from lead, copper, gold, and silver sheet to cast bronze, hand-carved marble and semi-precious stone, and charcoal drawing.
Spiritus Equus brings together this full breadth of Fiddian Green's career: five monumental works installed in prominent outdoor locations across the NSLM campus, four medium-scale sculptures complementing Still Water in the main first-floor gallery, and 18 additional sculptures and seven drawings on view upstairs. Spanning works created from 1983 to the presentseveral never before exhibited publiclythe exhibition traces Fiddian Green's lifelong fascination with the spirit of the horse.
The earliest work on view, Transcription Project (1983), marks the origin of that fascination. While a student at Chelsea College, Fiddian Green visited the British Museum to complete an art transcription assignment and was struck by the Horse of Selene. As he reflected in a 2024 interview with Equestrian Living magazine, the Classical ideals of "perfection, harmony, and proportion, balance, and seamless craftsmanship" have stayed with him ever sincea throughline connecting ancient Greece to Virginia's Hunt Country, and now visible across four decades of his work under one roof.
The NSLM extends its sincere thanks to the Sladmore Gallery, London, which has represented Nic Fiddian Green for the past 30 years, for its generous support in mounting this exhibition.
The National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM)
Founded in 1954, the NSLM is located in Middleburg, the heart of Virginias beautiful hunt country. The inviting, 6-acre campus, world-class research Library, and fine art Museum highlight the rich heritage and tradition of country pursuits. Angling, horsemanship, shooting, steeplechasing, foxhunting, flat racing, polo, coaching, and wildlife are among the subjects one can explore in the institutions general stacks, rare book holdings, archives, and art collection. The NSLM offers a wide variety of educational programs, exhibitions, and family activities throughout the year.
The Library & Museum are open ThursdaySunday, 10 am5 pm. Library admission is free of charge.