Jockeys

French painter Edgar Degas painted this horse racing subjects throughout his career, producing dozens of works showing jockeys before, during, and after races. This painting belongs to that extensive body of work. Degas didn't simply copy nature. He manipulated his figures from one composition to the next, enlarging, reversing, or reducing them to fit different backgrounds.

The artist drew on multiple sources for his horse imagery. Some poses traced back to old masters. The prancing mount and rider that appear in several works derive from Benozzo Gozzoli's 15th-century "Journey of the Magi" in Florence, which Degas had copied in 1859. He combined historical references with direct observation of contemporary racing.

Horse racing boomed in France after Longchamp racecourse opened in 1857. The track attracted regular spectators including Degas, Édouard Manet, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. While most visitors remember Degas for his ballet dancers, his racing scenes represent equally sophisticated explorations of movement and light. The Art Institute of Chicago holds this work in their collection.