Degas at the Races: Teaching Activities

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Visual Art and The Challenge of Depicting Movement

Painters and sculptors struggle with the goal of suggesting lifelike movement in both human and animal subjects. Sometimes photography can help artists understand and depict motion. In 1872, Eadweard Muybridge was asked by Leland Stanford, the governor of California, to help settle a bet that at any one time all four hooves of a horse galloping at top speed were off the ground. Through his photographs, Muybridge proved that this was true. This experiment was the catalyst for Muybridge's photographic experiments in motion and movement. Photographs helped artists see the precise sequence of movement and pattern of footfalls of the horse.

After Degas learned of Muybridge's photographs and knew the exact position of a horse's legs in motion, his paintings and sculpture neither continue the stylized flying gallop nor adopt the photographically documented four-leg "tuck." Is this surprising? Do artists have an obligation to reflect science in their art? What is the relationship between science and art?

Activities

1. Construct your own viewfinder. Using a piece of plain cardboard, draw a square with each side five inches long. Measure one inch inside the square to create a smaller square with three-inch sides. Cut out the smaller square. You have created a frame or viewfinder. Hold it up and look through the frame. Select a scene--an object or person. Hold the viewfinder so the subject is in the center of your frame. Move your frame to the side so you see only a portion of the subject. How does this change your perception of the image? Can you frame "motion"? Experiment with different scenes. Draw what you see through your frame, using pastel, chalk, pencil, marker, or whatever medium you have available.

2. Try drawing a picture using a single line. Once your pencil touches the paper, begin to draw and do not pick up the pencil until you have completed the picture. Start with simple objects like a circle, or a star. Then try a fish and more difficult images. Try this exercise to suggest images in motion. Do you need to add anything to your image to create more movement?

3. A "flip book" is a small book with sequential images that suggest movement. When the pages are flipped very quickly, the image appears to move. You can create your own flip book of a person, an animal running, or a ball bouncing. Decide on a subject and think of a beginning, middle, and end to the action. You will need a pad of stiff paper (about four by six inches) with at least twenty-five sheets. Each drawing must be slightly different from the previous one and show a sequence. A variation on this activity would be to take a series of sequential photographs, cut them apart into individual frames, and then reassemble them into a flip book.

The Horse in Art, Advertising, and Journalism

1. Assemble various reproductions of paintings by different artists that depict horses. Some artists to research are George Stubbs and Rosa Bonheur. How are the images of the horses similar? Different? Can some of the images be classified as horse "portraits"? Why? Why not? If other horse images are not an exact likenesses of a specific animal, what might the artist's objective have been in painting or sculpting the horse?

2. Collect a variety of advertisements, or compile a list of commercial products that rely upon the horse for marketing strategy. Have groups present their research. They may consider what kind of lifestyle or image the horse is intended to promote or "sell." In what ways have cars and sports-utility vehicles been associated with horses? Why?

3. Design your own advertisement using a horse. What is the product you are trying to promote? Fitness? A vacation spot? A beauty product?

4. Degas' images often suggest a story. Based on what you see in Scene from the Steeplechase, write a news article "covering" the event. Be sure to include in your first two paragraphs these five basic journalistic points: who, what, why, where, and how. Include details about the jockey's past riding record, about the horse's history, and the jockey's condition after the fall.

Artists and the Depiction of Contemporary Life

Degas' fascination with the racehorse and scenes of the racetrack reflected a larger interest in the entertainments and leisure pursuits of middle- and upper-class Parisians. Degas shared with the impressionist artists a belief that by painting scenes of everyday activities and amusements, he was expressing the "modernity" of his era.

1. Assume a role similar to Degas' and imagine yourself as a chronicler of your own day and age. What contemporary scene would you choose as emblematic of the present day? In particular, what sporting event might be a fitting modern-day counterpart to Degas' racetrack pictures?

2. In his depictions of the ballet and the races, Degas rarely showed his dancers performing or his horses racing. In your role as chronicler of the present day, consider your viewpoint. What moment of the activity would you capture? Before the event, during, or after? How are the moods of the athletes different at these times? Is there tension, agitation, excitement, or relief? When you sketch, paint, or sculpt your choice of a modern-day sporting event, think about the composition and colors that convey a sense of movement and vitality.

Vocabulary

Find definitions for the following words.
Example: animalier = French term for artist who specializes in depicting animals
anatomy
armature
bridle
composition
frieze
gait
gesture
girth
impressionism
jockey
mane
monoprint
Paris salons
pastel
saddle
steeplechase
stirrup
thoroughbred