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Jan 4, 2013

The Jockey

c. 1885–1900

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)

France, 19th century

Charcoal

Support: Beige(2) modern laid paper

Sheet: 48.5 x 31.2 cm (19 1/8 x 12 5/16 in.)

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1927.301

Location

not on view

Description

A study made for a larger racetrack composition rendered in pastel, Degas’s Jockey shows the attention that the artist lavished on perfecting the positions of the horse’s legs, hoofs, jaw straining against the bit, and the swish of the tail.

Artist biography

Edgar Degas

Son of a Parisian banker, Edgar Degas enrolled in law school in 1853 following his father's wishes. But he had already shown an interest in art and had also registered to copy at the Louvre. In 1855 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts and became a student of Louis Lamothe (1822-1869), a former pupil of Ingres (q.v.). One year later Degas made the traditional journey to Italy, remaining there for three years. He visited family members in Naples and Florence and attended life classes at the Villa Medici in Rome. A visit to Normandy in 1861 may have introduced him to the racetrack. In Paris he continued to study at the Louvre, where he met Manet (q.v.) in 1862. Apart from his continuous interest in portraiture and history painting, Degas began to pay attention to subjects of modern life. Between 1865 and 1870, he exhibited at the Salon. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, he enlisted in the artillery, but because of his poor eyesight he served (with Manet) in the infantry. After the war he traveled first to London and, in 1872-73, visited his uncle and brothers who had a cotton business in New Orleans. Degas participated in the first impressionist exhibition of 1874. He continued to exhibit with these artists until 1886 but never completely considered himself a member of the group, preferring to call himself a realist or naturalist. While many of the impressionists painted en plein air, Degas worked with models in his studio and, later in his career, from his imagination. In addition to painting, he experimented often with monotypes, engraving, pastels, sculpture, and photography. He traveled extensively-London, Naples, Spain, Morocco, and Switzerland-but continued to draw his subject matter from modern-day Paris. Other recurring themes would be the female nude and the ballet dancer. After the impressionist exhibition of 1886, Degas no longer participated in group shows. Instead he sold his works to private dealers such as Durand-Ruel and Ambroise Vollard. In the 1890s he began his own art collection, which, besides many works on paper, included paintings by such artists as Ingres, Cézanne (q.v.), Delacroix (q.v.), Gauguin (q.v.), and van Gogh (q.v.). His own art at the time became characterized by broader strokes of paint, charcoal, and pastel and the use of more vibrant colors, partly because of problems with his vision. His failing eyesight and poor health caused him to abandon his pursuit of art during the last years of his life.

Inscriptions

Inscription

VERSO, upper left, in graphite: 1 [underlined] ; upper left, in red crayon: ch 20 ; center, in graphite: 29 1/2 46 / 17 17 / 11453 ; lower right, in blue crayon: Ph1421 / 2412

Provenance

estate of the artist (Lugt 658, lower left, in red ink and Lugt 657, verso, lower right, in red ink). [C.W. Kraushaar Gallery]

Citations

“Lists of Objects in the Exhibition.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 16, no. 9 (1929): 159–75. Mentioned: p. 167 www.jstor.org

Francis, Henry S. "Drawings by Degas." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 44, no. 10 (December 1957): 212-17. Mentioned: p. 216 www.jstor.org

DeGrazia, Diane and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: P. 5

Exhibition history

Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute, Edgar Degas: Exploring Dimensions (cat. title: Edgar Degas: The Many Dimensions of a Master French Impressionist) (Aug. 12-Oct. 9, 1994), no. 38, illus. p. 76.

CMA, Treasures on Paper (May 10-July 24, 1988).

CMA, The Impressionist Aesthetic (Aug. 10-Oct. 31, 1982).

CMA, Gifts of the Print Club of Cleveland during Its First Twenty Years to the Cleveland Museum of Art: 40th Anniversary of the Print Club of Cleveland, 1919-1959 (Dec. 3, 1959-Jan. 20, 1960).

CMA, "Drawings from the Collection, Gallery VIII" (June 15-Aug. 10, 1954).

CMA, "Museum Drawings, Gallery VIII" (June 12-Nov. 7, 1951).

CMA, "Drawings from the Collection, Gallery VIII" (June 15, 1949-Apr. 24, 1950).

CMA, "Drawings in Gallery VIII" (June 10-Oct. 20, 1947).

Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, Loan Exhibition of Drawings and Pastels by Edgar Degas (Mar. 30-Apr. 30, 1947), no. 34, illus.

CMA, Works by Edgar Degas (Feb. 5-Mar. 9, 1947), no. 72, pl. LI.

CMA, Work by Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (June 15-Oct. 6, 1946).

CMA, French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections (among CMA drawings supplementing this show) (Jan. 6-Feb. 15, 1942).

CMA, "exhibited as part of the Museum of Modern Art travelling show, Picasso: His Forty Years of Art"(?) (Nov. 6-Dec. 8, 1940).

CMA, "Drawings from the Collection" (July 11-Oct. 3, 1940).

CMA, "75 Drawings from the Collection" (Feb. 10-Apr. 28, 1937).

CMA, Exhibition of Drawings from the Museum Collection Supplemented by Loans from Local Collections (July 12-Sep. 15, 1935).Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; May 13 - July 13, 2003. " Object in Focus: Degas' Jockeys "

Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; February 15 - May 16, 2004. "Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement". Not in exh. cat.

French Art Since Eighteen Hundred. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 8-December 8, 1929).

Exhibition of Drawings from the Museum Collection Supplemented by Loans from Local Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 12-September 15, 1935).

Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 10-April 28, 1937).

Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-October 3, 1940).

French Drawings and Watercolors from French Public and Private Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 6-February 15, 1942).

Works of Edgar Degas. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 5-March 9, 1947).

The Impressionist Aesthetic. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-October 31, 1982).

Time Stands Still: Muybridge and the Instantaneous Photography Movement. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (February 15-May 16, 2004).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Jockey|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1927.301|author=Edgar Degas|year=c. 1885–1900|access-date=22 September 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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