Before the Race - Edgar Degas
Archival giclée
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Description
A quiet, observational study of jockeys and horses preparing for a race, rendered in the characteristic Impressionist style of Edgar Degas.
Edgar Degas produced numerous works depicting the world of horse racing, a subject that fascinated him throughout his career. In this composition, the artist captures a quiet moment of anticipation before the start of a race. The jockeys, dressed in their distinctively coloured silks, sit atop their horses in a field, while the distant townscape, complete with industrial chimneys, provides a muted backdrop to the scene.
Degas avoids the traditional, heroic portrayal of equestrian sports. Instead, he focuses on the informal, everyday reality of the event. The figures are arranged across the lower portion of the frame, creating a sense of horizontal movement. The sky occupies a large portion of the canvas, rendered with soft, sweeping brushstrokes that suggest a cloudy day. The palette is restrained, relying on earthy tones for the ground and a range of blues and greys for the atmosphere, which allows the small splashes of colour from the jockeys' uniforms to draw the eye.
This work demonstrates the artist's interest in the fleeting nature of modern life. By choosing to depict the moments before the action begins, Degas invites the viewer to observe the tension and stillness inherent in the scene. The composition is carefully balanced, with the horses and riders distributed in a way that feels natural rather than staged. The inclusion of the industrial town in the background adds a layer of social context, grounding the sporting event within the broader environment of late nineteenth-century France. The work remains a fine example of the artist's ability to transform a mundane observation into a compelling visual study of light, form, and human activity.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
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- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Before the Race - Edgar Degas
Artist Biography
Edgar Degas
More than half of his entire output depicts dancers. He became a fixture at the Paris Opera, watching from the wings and from boxes above the stage, sketching not the performance but the work behind it: the stretching, the waiting, the adjusting of shoes, the corrections from the ballet master. The backstage fatigue interested him more than the applause.
In 1881, he exhibited Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, a two-thirds life-size wax figure of Marie van Goethem, a real student at the Opera ballet school. She wore a real tutu, real ballet slippers, and a wig of human hair, all coated in wax. Critics called it repulsive. One described the girl as having a face marked by the hateful promise of every vice. Wax was a material for anatomical specimens, not art. It was the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. After his death, 150 more wax figures were found in his studio, many falling apart.
His eyesight began failing during the Franco-Prussian War. By his forties he had lost central vision. By fifty-seven he could not read. The deterioration drove him from fine brushwork to bolder strokes, then to pastels, then to sculpture he could work by touch. He avoided daylight and painted under controlled artificial light. Collectors joked they should chain their Degas paintings to the wall, because he would try to take them back to rework them. He compulsively revised everything.
He disliked being called an Impressionist. He preferred Realist or Independent. He never painted outdoors, which was supposedly the whole point of the movement. Despite this, he co-founded the group, organised their exhibitions, and showed in all eight. He said: there is love and there is art and we only have one heart. He never married.
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