Racehorses at Longchamp

Painted in 1874 and now at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Racehorses at Longchamp is among Degas's finest treatments of the fashionable Longchamp racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne. The year 1874 was the historic moment of the first Impressionist exhibition, in which Degas participated, and this work demonstrates his mature outdoor vision. Longchamp had reopened in 1857 as a center of fashionable Paris racing life, attended by society figures Degas knew and observed. This painting captures the pre-race atmosphere — horses being exercised or paraded before the start — with the characteristic Degas interest in anticipation over dramatic climax. The expansive landscape setting is rendered with unusual breadth.

Degas achieves a notable atmospheric breadth in this landscape-oriented composition, the wide expanse of turf and sky receding behind the figures in a manner reminiscent of English sporting prints. The horses are rendered with anatomical precision but fluid execution — their muscular energy conveyed through the economy of marks. The jockeys' colored silks punctuate the muted green and grey of the landscape. Light is cool and even, the overcast or early-morning quality typical of his outdoor racing scenes.