Racehorses in Longchamps
by DEGAS, Edgar, Oil on canvas, 34 x 42 cm
Horse racing, a sport imported from England, was a novelty at that time. Degas discovered racetracks as a subject for art in the early 1860s. However, he rarely painted the course itself, he preferred to look elsewhere. He was fascinated by preparations for a race, by false starts and the wait before the start, by the tension and the release of tension - all of them moments hardly laden with action.