Jockeys on Horseback before Distant Hills, 1884

  • Edgar Degas, French, 1834-1917

Oil on canvas

  • Unframed: 17 11/16 × 21 5/8 inches (44.9 × 54.9 cm)
  • 25 1/8 × 28 3/8 × 3 1/4 inches (63.8 × 72.1 × 8.3 cm)

Gift of W. Warren and Virginia Shelden in memory of Mrs. Allan Shelden

1998.65

On View

  • Modern, Level 2, Central

Department

European Modern Art to 1970

Signed and dated, lower left: Degas 84

(Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, France) Albert Spencer (New York, New York, USA)

1911 (Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, France and New York, New York, USA)

by 1913-1934, Lillie P. Bliss (New York, New York, USA)

1934, gift to the Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York, USA)

Mr. & Mrs. Allan Shelden II (Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA)

by inheritance to Mr. & Mrs. W. Warren Shelden (Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA)

1998-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

International Exhibition of Modern Art (Armory Show). Exh. cat., 69th Regiment Armory, 1913, pp. 66, 81, cat. 1012. [as "Chevaux de Course"] Lafond, P. Degas. Paris, 1919, vol. 2, pp. 41-44. "List of Loans Fiftieth Anniversary Exhibition." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15, no. 5 (May 1920): 112–119, p. 115. [as "Before the Race"] "French, English, and American Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 15, no. 9 (September 1920): 202–209, pp. 206, 207 (ill.). "Metropolitan Museum’s Anniversary." American Art News 18, no. 29 (May 8, 1920): p. 2. Vollard, Ambroise. Degas (1834-1917). Paris, 1924, p. 48-49 (ill.). Pene du Bois, G. "Degas." The Art 17 (1931): p. 606 (ill.). Loan Exhibition of Impressionist and Post-impressionist Paintings. Exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1921, cat. 31. Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Lillie P. Bliss. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1931, cat. 59 (ill.). Degas. Exh. cat., Addison Gallery, Philips Academy. Andover, 1931, cat. 38. Degas. Exh. cat., John Herron Art Institute. Indianapolis, 1932, cat. 35 (ill.). A Century of Progress. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1933, cat. 288. Edgar Degas. Exh. cat., Smith College Museum of Art Northampton, 1933, cat. 14. The Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1934, vol. 44, no. 25 (ill.). The Studio, vol. 1 (ill.). Degas. Exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie. Paris, 1937, cat. 37. Works by Edgar Degas. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, 1947, cat. 43. Lemoisne, P.A. Degas et son oeuvre. Paris, vol. 3, 1946, p. 436, cat. 767, (ill.); vol. 4, pp. 21, 50, 58, 74, 83, 86, 94. [as Detroit, private collection.] Grigaut, P.L. The Two Sides of the Medal: French Painting from Gérôme to Gauguin. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1954, p. 33, cat. 73. Boggs, John Sutherland. Degas at the Races. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1998, pp. 134-137, cat. 80 (ill.). Wissman, F.W. European Vistas: Cultural Landscapes. Detroit, 2000, pp. 30, 32-33 (ill.). Dumas, A. Degas and the Italians in Paris. Exh. cat., National Galleries of Scotland. Edinburgh, 2003, p. 92. Kushner, Marilyn Satin and Kimberly Orcutt, eds. The Armory Show at 100: Modernism and Revolution. Exh. cat., New York Historical Society Museum and Library, 2013, pp. 310, fig. 243, 440.

Edgar Degas, Jockeys on Horseback before Distant Hills, 1884, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of W. Warren and Virginia Shelden in memory of Mrs. Allan Shelden, 1998.65.