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

  • The Collection
  • Projects & Publications
  • Past Exhibitions

Footer Main

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

Image

Previous 1 2 3 / 3 Next

Edgar Degas

Before the Race, ca. 1885

Description

Maker

  • Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, French

Title

Before the Race

Year

ca. 1885

Medium

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

Materials/Techniques

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

Type

  • Works on Paper,
  • Drawings and Watercolors

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Murray S. Danforth

Object Number

42.214

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selected Works

Edgar Degas

Six Friends At Dieppe

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

Selection V

French Watercolors and Drawings, ca. 1800-1910

Degas et son oeuvre

Art in New England

Paintings, Drawings, Prints from Private Collections in New England

Degas, 1834-1917

Exposition Degas au profit de la Ligue Franco-Anglo-Américaine contre le cancer

The Master Impressionists

A Note on Degas

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

From Dürer to Van Gogh

June 5 - October 26, 2008

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

September 16, 2005 - January 15, 2006

Selection V

April 29 - May 25, 1975

French Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries

November 1, 1942

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Before the Race with the accession number of 42.214. To request high-resolution files or 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.

RISD Museum

  •  Facebook
  •  Twitter
  •  Instagram
  •  Vimeo
  •  Pinterest
  •  SoundCloud

Footer Main

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

Footer Secondary

  • Image Request
  • Press Office
  • Rent the Museum
  • Terms of Use