Description
At the Races in the Countryside shows an open carriage with a family at the edge of the racecourse. On the box sits a man in a pale coat and a black top hat with a long whip, and beside him a black-and-white bulldog. In the carriage sit two women: one with a cream parasol and a bonnet with a red band, the other holding a swaddled baby in her lap. At the left in the background three jockeys are galloping, spectators on horseback stand between them, and along the horizon a line of tents. The sky takes the upper half. The original is an oil painting on canvas and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston under the accession number 26.790. We make it as a hand-painted work, in sizes from 50 x 40 to 150 x 100 cm or to your own measurements, and you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
| Title: | At the Races in the Countryside |
| Other titles: | Aux courses en province |
| Painter: | Edgar Degas (1834–1917) |
| Year of execution: | circa 1869 |
| Original size: | 36 cm x 55 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Impressionism |
| Located at: | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (acc. no. 26.790) |
| Our reproduction: | hand-painted oil on linen canvas, 8 sizes from 50 x 40 cm to 150 x 100 cm, custom sizes on request |
At the Races in the Countryside – Edgar Degas
Who is shown?
A family and their dog, none of them named. On the box sits a man in a pale coat and a black top hat, bearded, a long whip in his hand; he is looking down into the carriage and not out at us. Beside him sits a black-and-white bulldog, turned backwards. In the carriage is a woman in white with a cream parasol and a bonnet with a red band, and next to her a second woman in a dark bonnet holding a swaddled baby in her lap. At the left in the distance are riders, and at the front left a man in black with a top hat, seen from behind.
What is on the canvas?
The scene is landscape in format and light. The upper half is a pale clouded sky, the lower a wide green plain. At the right stands the black open carriage with two brown horses; of the second we see only the head, and the wheel is cut off by the bottom edge. At the left, in the middle ground, three jockeys gallop, one in a red cap on a white horse; between them stand three riders in dark clothes. Along the horizon a few pale tents with red roofs and a line of trees. At the lower left is the painter’s signature. The colours are pale — green, cream, grey — and the strongest are the jockey’s red cap and the red band on the bonnet.
Why does this particular scene matter?
Because the race is almost missing. The jockeys are small, pushed to the left edge and partly hidden; the whole foreground is a family outing — a parasol, a dog, a baby being fed. Degas painted the day at the races as a domestic scene and put the sport in the background. The second thing is the cut: the carriage is cropped by the right edge, the second horse is only a head, the wheel is lost below. The scene looks as though we came past and glanced sideways, not like a staged picture.
What does the scene mean?
A day out rather than a race. Impressionism for Degas meant a cutting caught as the eye sees it — and at the races the eye often looks at everything but the horses. An impressionist painting of this kind is therefore a scene of company and not of sport. As wall art it is light and spacious; it holds up in a living room or a dining room because it does not demand attention but returns it. A canvas painting for bright rooms suits it very well.
The motif among Degas’s works
Degas painted horse racing all his life, but only here with a child in the foreground. Before the Race shows the same field with no public, Gentlemen’s Race. Before the Start catches the waiting before the beginning, and Race Horses before the Stands puts the horses in front of the crowd. This work is catalogued in the Degas catalogue raisonné as MS 96, and how closely Degas studied the rider himself is shown by Jockey at the Art Institute of Chicago.
How is our hand-painted version made?
With a brush and oil colours, not a printer, and here the technique of the original is the same as ours: oil on canvas. Every one of our canvases is made layer after layer, and in this motif the light is the hardest part. The scene stands almost entirely in pale greens and creams, and if the colour is laid on too thickly the day loses its air. So we build the plain and the sky with thin layers. The other demanding part is the small figures at the left: they are painted in a few strokes and have to stay indefinite — drawn out, the scene loses its distance. We paint the red cap and the red band last, because they are the only strong colours. Every reproduction is made afresh and no two copies are ever quite the same, because the hand does not repeat the same stroke twice; every hand-painted copy is therefore its own. For this work we have no photographs of our finished canvases, so we show and describe none here. The photograph of your canvas reaches you before dispatch.
Which size for which wall?
If you do not know which: 80 x 60 cm. The original measures 36 x 55 cm; our 50 x 40 cm size matches it almost exactly in size, while in proportion the nearest are 60 x 40, 90 x 60 and 150 x 100 cm, because our sizes run on average a little narrower than the original. The 50 x 40 and 60 x 40 cm sizes are for a smaller room or a hallway, where the jockeys at the left do become hard to make out. The 70 x 50 and 80 x 60 cm sizes are the most frequent choice above a chest of drawers. The 90 x 60 and 100 x 70 cm sizes are for a living room, where the work is given enough width. The 114 x 81 cm size is for a larger wall, and at 150 x 100 cm we are at the sizes where a large painting really breathes and the carriage stands close to life size. Measure your chosen size on the wall with a paper cut-out first; with a landscape format the mistake is usually made in the width. None of the sizes is held in stock as a finished item: every copy is made to order and stays a single piece.
Custom size, stretcher bar and frame
If none of the eight sizes suits you, or if you want the original’s proportion, we paint to your measurements and keep the proportions of the scene, so that the carriage at the right stays cropped as it is in Degas and the jockeys at the left do not disappear off the edge; that is our painting made to order. Every copy is delivered stretched on a wooden bar, ready to hang. For the frame, use our 3D application: on this motif it shows every moulding profile we carry, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood – it is for choosing a frame and nothing else. If you want to see how the work looks on your own wall, that is our separate room-placement service.
Delivery and guarantee
Every copy is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose; for the largest sizes the time is usually at the upper end. We send it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, to sixteen countries in the European Union, without customs duties. You receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch, and our returns policy applies to every order. The whole range is in the Edgar Degas gallery, and the painter’s life is described in our article about Edgar Degas.
Frequently asked questions
What is happening in the scene?
A family is watching the race from their carriage. In the foreground a baby is being fed; in the background at the left three jockeys are galloping.
Who are the people in the carriage?
They are not named. We see a man on the box, two women and a baby.
What kind of dog is on the box?
A black-and-white bulldog, sitting beside the man and looking backwards. It is one of the most conspicuous details in the scene.
Why is the carriage cut off?
Because Degas caught the scene as a glance in passing. The right edge cuts the second horse and the bottom edge cuts the wheel.
Where is the original located?
In the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, under the accession number 26.790.
How large is the original?
36 by 55 cm. Our 50 x 40 cm size matches it almost exactly in size.
Why is the year given as “circa”?
Because that is how the catalogue of works gives it: circa 1869. Where the year is not exactly settled, we do not settle it either.
Are your sizes in the same proportion as the original?
Not quite – ours run on average a little narrower. In proportion the nearest are 60 x 40, 90 x 60 and 150 x 100 cm.
Is this a print?
No. The work is painted by hand in oil colours; the brushstrokes are visible and can be felt.
Can I have a size that is not listed?
Yes, we paint to measure and keep the proportions of the scene while doing it.
Is it suitable as a gift?
Yes, especially for a family or for someone who likes bright outdoor scenes. Because every copy is made to order, allow for the making time; if you would rather leave the choice to them, there is our gift voucher.
- Subject: an open carriage with a family, a dog and a baby at the edge of the racecourse, the jockeys small in the left background, the sky over the upper half
- Original: Edgar Degas, an oil painting on canvas, 36 x 55 cm, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (26.790)
- Ours: hand-painted in oil, eight sizes from 50 x 40 to 150 x 100 cm, stretched and framed on request
- Worth knowing: the race is almost missing – the foreground is a family outing with a baby and a dog, and the horses are small and off at the edge
