Skip to main content

Visit Main Menu Block

  • Hours & Admission
  • Accessibility & Amenities
  • Tours & Group Visits
  • Visitor Guidelines

Exhibitions and Events Main Menu Block

  • Exhibitions
  • Events

Art and Design Main Menu Block

  • Collection
  • Collection Research
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Watch / Listen / Read

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum
Previous image 1 2 3 / 3 Next image

Edgar Degas

Before the Race

Maker

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)

Title

Before the Race

Year

ca. 1885

Medium

  • pastel,
  • gouache,
  • and graphite over charcoal on tracing paper mounted to cardboard

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • pastel,
  • gouache,
  • and graphite over charcoal on tracing paper mounted to cardboard

Materials

gouache, chalk, graphite, charcoal

Supports

  • Tracing paper,
  • cardboard

Dimensions

56.5 x 65.4 cm (22 1/4 x 25 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed in LR:Degas

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

42.214

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Publications

  • Books

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

  • Journal

A Note on Degas

  • Books

Edgar Degas: Six Friends At Dieppe

  • Books

Selection V: French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

French watercolors and drawings from the Museum's collection, ca. 1800-1910

  • Books

Selected Works

Exhibition History

Inventing Impressionism
Oct 21, 2016 – Jun 11, 2017

Label copy

This drawing is one of many that Degas made at racetracks in suburbs outside Paris. These works were often created using pastel sticks, although oil paints were a more commonly used medium at the time. Suiting the rapidity of the horses he depicted, this powdery chalk allowed Degas to sketch spontaneously and directly, combining loose lines and planes of color. Pastels required no advance preparation of materials, no drying time, and could be adjusted and reworked easily. Degas also combined pastel with other materials such as goauche, the opaque white paint seen here in the horizontal fence.

From Dürer to Van Gogh
Gifts from Eliza Greene Radeke and Helen Metcalf Danforth
Jun 05, 2008 – Oct 26, 2008

Label copy

The racetrack as a subject intermittently occupied Degas’s attention during most of his mature life as an artist, providing him with a focus for his study of the interaction of form and movement. His Before the Race is built upon three horizontals: the fence, the friezelike disposition of the jockeys’ heads, and the horizon line. These elements create a rhythmic contrast to the horses’ curved forms and the prominent vertical strokes of the landscape, achieved with multiple layers of pastel. Key to the composition is the rigid fence in white gouache, which stands out from the surrounding textures and softer hues of the chalk. The fence pushes the jockeys and their mounts forward, contributing to a sense of excitement and anticipation as the group prepares to race.

Edgar Degas
Six Friends at Dieppe
Sep 16, 2005 – Jan 15, 2006
French Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Nov 01, 1942 – Nov 01, 1942

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
Before the Race, ca. 1885
Pastel, gouache, and graphite over charcoal on tracing paper mounted to cardboard
56.5 x 65.4 cm (22 1/4 x 25 3/4 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth 42.214

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

Footer Main

  • Become a Member
  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Rent the Museum

Footer Main Navigation

  • Visit

    • Hours & Admission
    • Accessibility & Amenities
    • Tours & Group Visits
    • Visitor Guidelines
  • Art & Design

    • Collection Research
    • Collection
    • Past Exhibitions
  • Join / Give

    • Become a Member
    • Give
  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Events
  • Watch / Listen / Read

    • The Latest
    • Publications
    • Articles
    • Audio & Video

Footer Secondary Navigation

  • Who We Are
  • Opportunities
  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use
Tickets
Homepage
Go to the risd.edu homepage. This link will open in a new window.