Four Studies of a Jockey

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas · 1866

Medium

Brush with black ink, oil paint, and white gouache, on tan wove paper discolored with brown essence, laid down on cream laid board

Original size

45.3 × 31.6 cm (17 7/8 × 12 1/2 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Romanticism

Four Studies of a Jockey is one of Degas's most intimate glimpses into the world of horse racing — a subject he returned to obsessively throughout his career, drawn as much to the tension of waiting as to the spectacle of motion. Degas made this work in 1866, at a pivotal moment when he was moving away from classical history painting toward the modern scenes of Parisian life that would define him. The mixed technique — black ink, oil paint, and white gouache on tan paper — is characteristic of his experimental approach to materials; he was never satisfied with a single medium when several could work in concert. The repeated figure of the jockey, seen from slightly different angles, reveals his deep interest in capturing the body in time rather than freezing a single decisive instant. The work is held in the Art Institute of Chicago, which houses one of the most significant Degas collections outside France, a reflection of the American fascination with his work that began during his own lifetime. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates Degas's layered, exploratory marks onto canvas with careful attention to the tonal range and gestural energy that make the original so quietly compelling.