The Races

A row of jockeys waits before a race, their horses shifting and turning on the grassy field. Edgar Degas painted this scene around 1871 to 1872, catching the moment before the action rather than the thrilling gallop itself. The bright caps of the riders, one in vivid yellow and another in red, pop against the muted greens and grays. Off in the distance you can spot a town with factory smokestacks puffing away, a reminder that this was modern France, where old country pastimes met the industrial age.

Degas is best known as one of the Impressionists, though he preferred to call himself a realist. He loved racetracks and returned to them again and again, fascinated by the movement of horses and the way people gathered to watch. Rather than paint a single hero horse crossing the finish line, he chose these in-between moments, the fidgeting and waiting that most artists would skip. The loose, sketchy sky and the slightly awkward poses of the animals feel honest and unposed, as if you have simply wandered up to the edge of the field at the wrong, or maybe the right, moment.