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Edgar Degas

The Races, 1871-1872

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 82

Medium

oil on wood

Dimensions

overall: 26.6 x 35.1 cm (10 1/2 x 13 13/16 in.)

framed: 42.2 x 49.9 cm (16 5/8 x 19 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.18

Artists / Makers

Edgar Degas (artist) French, 1834 - 1917

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

lower right: Degas

Provenance

Purchased from the artist in April 1872 by (Durand-Ruel, Paris); sold 7 May 1873 to Jean-Baptiste Faure [1830-1914], Paris; sold 28 February 1881 to (Durand-Ruel, Paris);[1] Jules Féder, Paris. Erwin Davis, New York; (his sale, New York, 19 March 1889, no. 62, as Before the Races). (Cottier and Co., London and New York); sold 1894 to Peter A.B. Widener [d. 1915], Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; Inheritance from the Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1]Information about Durand-Ruel stock numbers and sales dates according to Michael Pantazzi in Degas, exh. cat., Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988-1989, pp. 221-223, notes 9 and 23.

Associated Names

Cottier & Co.
Davis, Erwin
Durand-Ruel et Cie
Faure, Jean-Baptiste
Féder, Jules
Sale, New York
Widener, Joseph E.

Exhibition History

1915: Loan Exhibition of Masterpieces of Old and Modern Painters, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1915, no. 23

1982: Manet and Modern Paris, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1982-1983, no. 48, repro.

1998: Degas at the Races, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1998, no. 50, repro., as Before the Race.

2001: Degas and America: The Early Collectors, High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2001, no. 25, repro.

2013: Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016.

Bibliography

1915: Roberts, William. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: British and Modern French Schools, Philadelphia, 1915: unpaginated, repro.

1923: Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1948: Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 107, repro.

1962: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Treasures from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1962: 156, color repro.

1963: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 325, repro.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 38.

1966: Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:436, color repro.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 32, repro.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 96, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 474, no. 699, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 118, repro.

1988: Pantazzi, Michael. In Degas, Exh. cat. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988-1989:160 221-223, n. 9, repro.

1991: Loyrette, Henri. Degas. Paris, 1991: 751, no. 437.

1993: Kendall, Richard. Degas Landscapes. New Haven and London, 1993:112, repro.

1997: Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism. New York, 1997: no. 268, repro.

1998: Degas at the Races. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1998: no. 50.

2017: Hoenigswald, Ann, and Kimberly A. Jones. "The Question of Finish in the Work of Edgar Degas." In Degas, Daphne Barbour and Suzanne Quillen Lomax, eds. Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 3 (2017): 20-49, esp. 36-37, fig. 13.