Jockeys and Owners at Epsom

Lavery's longstanding fascination with the social rituals of sport found its fullest expression at Epsom, where the flat racing season provided an annual spectacle of colour, class, and ceremony. Painted in 1923, this panel captures the intimate prelude to a race — the quiet negotiation between jockeys in their vivid silks and owners in their more sober Edwardian dress. Horse racing occupied a peculiar position in Edwardian and interwar British culture as one of the few arenas where aristocracy, nouveaux riches, and the general public mingled, and Lavery was acutely sensitive to such social textures. The small panel format, common in Lavery's sporting work, suggests this was painted rapidly on the spot or developed from quick field sketches, capturing the transient bustle of the paddock before the bell. It entered the Yale Center for British Art as part of its collection of British sporting and genre scenes.

The panel support allowed Lavery to work with thin, quickly drying layers, producing a crisp, jewel-like surface. Jockeys' silks are rendered with bright, distinct strokes of pure colour against the cooler greys and browns of the crowd. Warm cream and buff ground tones remain visible through the looser passages, unifying the composition.