The Races

Horse racing at Longchamp and other Parisian tracks was, alongside ballet, Degas's primary subject for exploring motion, spectacle, and modern leisure. His racetrack scenes use unconventional cropping and snapshot-like compositions to capture the energy of horses in motion and the fashionable crowds who attended as social ritual. This 1871 canvas shows his interest in the geometries of movement rather than the narrative of race itself His commitment to draftsmanship and formal innovation set him apart from the more purely optical concerns of his Impressionist colleagues.

Degas favored unconventional cropping and asymmetric compositions drawn from photography and Japanese prints. He worked in pastel as frequently as oil, building luminous surface through hatched strokes and fixative layers.