Géo BERNIER (1862-1918) The Draught Horse, oil on canvas, signed lower right, hole in canvas, 61 x 73cm. Note: In 1892, Géo Bernier began exhibiting at the triennial Belgian Salons. In 1893, he co-founded the art circle Le Sillon. At the circle's first annual exhibition, in 1893, Émile Verhaeren mentioned Géo Bernier as one of the most important Belgian animal painters. As well as horses, he painted other animals with talent: oxen, sheep, dogs, swans, etc. He was also a great admirer of the animal painter Alfred Verwée, who died in 1895, and in whose footsteps he followed.