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Lot Essay
Degas once remarked to the critic François Thiébault that, in his desire "to achieve exactitude so perfect in the representation of animals that a feeling of life is conveyed, one had to go into three dimensions" (quoted in R. Kendall, Degas: Beyond Impressionism, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, London, 1996, p. 255).
Charles Millard suggests that Degas' equine sculptures form two distinct groups. He dates the early pieces prior to 1881, and this group consists of horses at rest or walking. The second group was created between 1881-1890 and includes horses in exaggerated motion, trotting or galloping and the latter group of horses was possibly executed with the aid of Edward Muybridge's series of photographs of horses in motion, first published in 1878, and exhibited in Paris in 1881 and 1882. Degas studied photographic stills by comtemporary photographers and commenting on these works by Degas, Paul Valéry wrote, "He was one of the first to study the true forms of the noble animal in movement by means of the instantaneous photographs of Major Muybridge" (P. Valéry, Degas, danse, dessin, Paris, 1938, p. 70).
Charles Millard suggests that Degas' equine sculptures form two distinct groups. He dates the early pieces prior to 1881, and this group consists of horses at rest or walking. The second group was created between 1881-1890 and includes horses in exaggerated motion, trotting or galloping and the latter group of horses was possibly executed with the aid of Edward Muybridge's series of photographs of horses in motion, first published in 1878, and exhibited in Paris in 1881 and 1882. Degas studied photographic stills by comtemporary photographers and commenting on these works by Degas, Paul Valéry wrote, "He was one of the first to study the true forms of the noble animal in movement by means of the instantaneous photographs of Major Muybridge" (P. Valéry, Degas, danse, dessin, Paris, 1938, p. 70).