This is a very well-known work by Johannes Võerahansu, which has been exhibited in shows and is included in catalogues. Võerahansu often painted horses, drawn to something about them. He began working on the motif of galloping horses a year earlier, producing a series of drawings in Karala village, Saaremaa. The painting is in a somewhat unusual format, which helps convey the momentum of the racing horses. The mood of the work is not mundane but existential: the galloping horses express a yearning for freedom. Notably, Võerahansu painted a work with such an undertone in 1957.

According to Ants Viidalep, who has written extensively about Võerahansu, the artist himself stated that he depicted horses going to die—thus, the final run toward infinity. One of the horses looks back, which can also be interpreted as an existential metaphor, reflecting on the path already traveled.

The motif was so important to Võerahansu that the design of the galloping horses appeared on the cover of his major solo exhibition catalogue in 1958.

The work was exhibited at Johannes Võerahansu’s exhibition at the Tartu Art Museum (1958) and is listed in the catalogue under number 401.