A leading contemporary painter of equestrian imagery, Richard McLean rendered large-scale photorealist representations of thoroughbred horses, primarily at racetracks and county fairs in rural California. Aligned with the Pop artists in their appropriation of popular media, McLean initially sourced imagery from horse magazines, but from the 1970s he used his own photographs to allow him greater control of the process. Toward the end of his life, McLean’s practice extended to landscapes in which horses only appear as incidental details.