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Race Horses

ca. 1885–88
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 821
Degas undertook racing scenes throughout his career, characteristically manipulating his horses and jockeys from one picture to the next. All the figures here appear in earlier works, and some of the poses have pedigrees even more distinguished than the horses: the prancing mount and rider at the center derive from Benozzo Gozzoli's Journey of the Magi in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence, which Degas had copied in 1859. This picture is nevertheless unusual for its medium—pastel on a plain, unvarnished panel. With skillful economy of means, Degas allowed the wood to color the sky and distant landscape, and to provide a warm undertone for the turf in the foreground.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Race Horses
  • Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1885–88
  • Medium: Pastel on wood
  • Dimensions: 11 7/8 x 16 in. (30.2 x 40.6 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: The Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg Collection, Gift of Walter H. and Leonore Annenberg, 1999, Bequest of Walter H. Annenberg, 2002
  • Object Number: 1999.288.3
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer, Edgar Degas French, Partially tinted bronze, cotton tarlatan, silk satin, and wood, French, Paris
The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer
Edgar Degas
Founder Cast by A. A. Hébrard
modeled 1881, cast 1922, modern tutu
Ceramic Horn, Glazed pottery, French
Ceramic Horn
French
late 18th or early 19th century
Feeding the Turkey, Eastman Johnson American, Pastel on wove paper, mounted to canvas on a wooden stretcher, American
Feeding the Turkey
Eastman Johnson
ca. 1872–80
Asters and Fruit on a Table, Henri Fantin-Latour French, Oil on canvas
Asters and Fruit on a Table
Henri Fantin-Latour
1868
Woman Having Her Hair Combed, Edgar Degas French, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
Woman Having Her Hair Combed
Edgar Degas
ca. 1886–88

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