Artwork
Preparing to Start
Preparing to Start is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Thomas Rowlandson. It dates from 1811 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Thomas Rowlandson’s 1811 hand‑coloured etching *Preparing to Start* captures a moment on a bustling racecourse just before the horses bolt. The composition places a line of mounted riders at the starting gate, a fence separating them from a throng of onlookers, while tents and a distant hill populated with additional spectators fill the background.
Subject & Meaning
The print records a popular public spectacle of the Georgian period, emphasizing the collective anticipation of a horse race. By foregrounding the crowd’s eager faces and the orderly procession of horses, Rowlandson highlights both the social ritual of betting and the communal excitement that surrounded such events.
Technique & Style
Created through etching and subsequently hand‑coloured, the work combines fine linear incisions with washes of pigment to enliven the scene. Rowlandson’s characteristic bold outlines and exaggerated gestures lend a lively, almost caricatural quality, while the palette of reds, blues and earth tones adds depth without obscuring the drawing’s clarity.
History & Provenance
Produced in the early nineteenth century, the print forms part of Rowlandson’s extensive output of satirical and topical prints that documented everyday life in England. It was issued as a single sheet, likely for sale to a broad audience of print collectors and spectators of the era, and has since entered public collections that document Georgian visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 1757 – 21 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation.
