Artwork
The Races
The Races is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas. It dates from 1872 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1872, *The Races* is an oil painting on wood by the French artist Edgar Degas. Though often linked to Impressionism, Degas identified himself more closely with realist concerns. The work depicts a moment at the start of a horse race, set against a cloudy sky and a distant urban backdrop, and exemplifies his ongoing interest in contemporary movement and public spectacle.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a group of jockeys poised on their mounts in a grassy field, each dressed in vivid racing colours. A dark horse and its rider appear slightly ahead, suggesting the instant before competition erupts. By capturing this fleeting instant, Degas highlights the dynamism of modern leisure activities and the interplay between sport, fashion, and urban life.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on a wooden panel, the painting employs Degas’s characteristic draftsmanship, with careful line work and a muted palette that balances the bright jockey attire against the blue‑grey sky. The brushwork conveys the texture of the turf and the atmospheric haze, while the flattened background cityscape reflects his interest in compositional experimentation beyond the traditional studio setting.
History & Provenance
The work remains documented as part of his early oeuvre, illustrating his shift toward depicting public events.
Degas painted *The Races* during a period when he was expanding his subject matter beyond ballet dancers to include other aspects of contemporary French society. The work remains documented as part of his early oeuvre, illustrating his shift toward depicting public events. Its ownership history is limited to museum collections that acquired the piece in the early twentieth century, where it continues to be displayed as a representative example of his realist phase.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas on 19 July 1834 in Paris, Edgar Degas came from an affluent banking family with aristocratic roots and spent his childhood among the cultivated circles of the French capital.
