Lithe and dynamic, racehorses and their brightly attired jockeys attracted Degas throughout his career. Here, he introduced a humorous note: the animal in the left foreground extends its neck to graze (which racehorses are trained not to do) or buck its rider, while the other men turn to watch. This pastel is the last of three variations of a composition made over a period of about twelve years. Degas added the horse and jockey at the right after the picture was largely completed, obscuring a fourth rider and his mount, just visible behind them.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Three Jockeys
Artist:Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date:ca. 1900
Medium:Pastel on tracing paper, laid down on board
Dimensions:19 1/4 x 24 1/2 in. (48.9 x 62.2 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Partial and Promised Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Dillon, 1992
Object Number:1992.103.1
Inscription: Stamped (lower left): Degas
the artist, Paris (until d. 1917; his first studio sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, May 6–8, 1918, no. 136, for Fr 11,100 to Seligmann); [Jacques Seligmann, Paris, 1918–21; his sale, American Art Association, New York, January 27, 1921, no. 27, for $1,850 to Durand-Ruel]; [Durand-Ruel, New York, 1921–27; sold for Fr 13,600 to Perls]; [Hugo Perls, Berlin, from 1927]; Esther Slater Kerrigan, New York (until 1942; her sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, January 8, 1942, no. 47, for $3,600 to Ault); Lee A. Ault, New York (from 1942); V. Dudensing (until 1951; sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, October 24, 1951, no. 93, for $6,000, to French & Co. for Foy); Bryon Foy, New York (1951–60; sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, October 26, 1960, no. 75, for $65,000 to Dillon); Douglas Dillon, New York (from 1960)
Château de Maisons-Laffitte. "Les Courses en France des origines à nos jours," June 20–July 25, 1926, no. 88 (lent by MM. Durand-Ruel).
New York. Wildenstein & Co., Inc. "Degas's Racing World," March 21–April 27, 1968, no. 12 (lent anonymously).
New York. Acquavella Galleries. "Edgar Degas," November 1–December 3, 1978, no. 29.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Degas," June 16–August 28, 1988, no. 352 (lent from a private collection, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Degas," September 27, 1988–January 8, 1989, no. 352.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Degas Landscapes," January 21–April 3, 1994, no. 78.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Degas Landscapes," April 24–July 3, 1994, no. 78.
Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Degas at the Races," April 12–July 12, 1998, no. 104.
LOAN OF THIS WORK IS RESTRICTED.
James N. Rosenberg. "Degas—pur sang." International Studio 73 (March 1921), ill. p. XXII.
Henri Hertz. "Degas, coloriste." L'amour de l'art 5 (March 1924), ill. p. 67.
P[aul]. A[ndré]. Lemoisne. Degas et son œuvre. [reprint 1984]. Paris, [1946–49], vol. 3, pp. 432–33, no. 763, ill., dates it about 1883–90; calls it a study for either L761 (then in the Mathieu Goudchaux collection, Paris) or L762 (then in the Schoeller collection, Paris).
Fiorella Minervino inL'opera completa di Degas. Milan, 1970, pp. 118–19, no. 713, ill., dates it 1883–90, and calls it a study for or replica of L761 and L762.
Ronald Pickvance. Edgar Degas: 1834–1917. Exh. cat., David Carritt. London, 1983, unpaginated, under no. 25, suggests a date of 1882–85 for the three versions of this subject (L761–63) and the studies for them (III:89.1, III:354.1, IV:208.d, IV:218.b, and IV:391).
Richard Thomson. The Private Degas. Exh. cat., Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. London, 1987, p. 101, fig. 129, as in a private collection; dates it about 1900.
Gary Tinterow inDegas. Exh. cat., Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. New York, 1988, p. 403 n. 1, pp. 462, 563–64, no. 352, ill. (color), dates it about 1900, after L762, which he dates about 1888, and L761, which he dates to the early 1890s; describes Degas's working method, including the transfer (often by squaring) of figures from drawings to the support for the pastel.
Gary Tinterow in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1991–1992." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 50 (Fall 1992), p. 51, ill. (color).
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 460, ill.
Jean Sutherland Boggs. Degas at the Races. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1998, pp. 171–72, 259, no. 104, ill. (color), dates it about 1900; dates L762 about 1885, stating that it served as the basis for this composition; also notes that the horse and rider on the right in our picture appear in another pastel, "Jockeys" (about 1885–1900; private collection; L939).
Impressionist and Modern Art: Evening Sale. Christie's, New York. May 7, 2003, p.21, under no. 6, fig. 2, comments that it seems to be directly based on L762.
An oil painting (L761) and a pastel (L762), both in private collections, have compositions closely related to this one. Degas's third and fourth studio sales of 1919 included several related drawings: III:89.1, III:354.1 (Burrell Collection, Glasgow), IV:208.d, IV:218.b, and IV:391, all of the central horse and rider, and III:114.2, IV:237.c, and IV:245.b, all of the turning horse and rider at right.
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