The Riders – (Edgar Degas) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Edgar Degas

Date: 1885

Size: 85 x 104 cm

Technique: Oil On Canvas

Six men on horseback and wearing jockeys’ uniforms line up on a grassy field in front of us in this loosely painted horizontal scene. The jockeys and horses’ features are especially freely painted so much of the detail is indistinct. The horses are all chestnut brown except for two at the middle, which are dark brown. One horse, second from our right, rears up on its hind legs, and one to our left nuzzles its neighbor. The riders all wear brimmed caps or helmets, white pants, and knee-high black boots. Their caps and high-necked shirts are painted in shades of goldenrod yellow, aquamarine blue, white, red, or peach. Their faces and hands are peach-colored or light brown. Some of the horses and the rider’s clothing are outlined in black. One of the riders is set a little farther back than the others. A black silhouette in the near distance to our right suggests a man wearing a suit and tall top hat. Swipes of black, brown, sky blue, and white create the impression of a crowd across from us, gathered on the far side of the grassy area. Light green fields continue back to a line of shamrock-green trees at the foot of gently sloping hills. White clouds screen the ice-blue sky above, which takes up the top quarter of the painting. The paint seems thinly applied in many areas, especially the horses and the grassy fields, so the weave of the canvas is visible under strokes of green and brown. The artist signed the lower right corner, “Degas.”