Scene from the Steeplechase: The Fallen Jockey

1866, reworked 1880–81 and ca. 1897

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Degas’s approach to art was exploratory, and he habitually revised paintings after initially completing them. He produced this work, ambitious in its scale and the novelty of its subject matter, for the Paris Salon of 1866. Yet it betrays signs of his subsequent dissatisfaction, and he may have returned to it soon after the exhibition closed. Later, about 1880–81, he added the second riderless horse, partially obscuring the one behind it, which he also changed. About 1897 he reworked the canvas again, and at this time he adapted the original composition for a second painting (Basel Kunstmuseum). Degas reportedly told Katherine Cassatt (mother of the painter Mary Cassatt) about the present painting: "It is one of those works which are sold after a man’s death and artists buy them not caring whether they are finished or not."

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Scene from the Steeplechase: The Fallen Jockey
Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
Date: 1866, reworked 1880–81 and ca. 1897
Geography: Country of Origin France
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 70 7/8 × 59 13/16 in. (180 × 152 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art