The Riders
c. 1885
Artist, French, 1834 - 1917


West Building Main Floor, Gallery 83
Artwork overview
-
Medium
oil on canvas
-
Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 73.03 × 90.81 cm (28 3/4 × 35 3/4 in.)
framed: 85.09 × 104.14 × 5.08 cm (33 1/2 × 41 × 2 in.) -
Accession
2014.18.7
More About this Artwork

Article: What Is Impressionism? 4 Things to Know
Learn the hallmarks of one of the most recognizable art movements in the world.
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
The artist; (Ambroise Vollard, Paris);[1] purchased 1911 by Jules Strauss [1861-1943], Paris;[2] (his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris,15 December 1932, no. 36); purchased by (André Schoeller [1879-1955], Paris).[3] Collection Schwenck, Paris, by 1946.[4] Private collection, Swizterland; sold March 1967 through Simon Scheib, New York to Paul Mellon [1907-1999], Upperville, Virginia;[5] bequest 1999 to NGA, with life interest to his wife, Rachel Lambert Mellon [1910-2014].
[1] The painting is reproduced in l’Album Degas, Galerie A. Vollard, Paris, 1914: pl. 54.
[2] Pauline Baer, the great-granddaughter of Jules Strauss, kindly shared with NGA the details of her great-grandfather's purchase of the painting (see her e-mail of 6 September 2016, in NGA curatorial files). The purchase is recorded in Strauss's personal papers with the following comment: "de chez Vollard provenant directement de Degas."
[3] Annotated sales catalogue in Chester Dale collection, NGA Library. Schoeller was one of the directors at the Galerie Georges Petit and often an expert at sales, so it is possible this painting was bought in at the Strauss sale.
[4] Per Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son oeuvre. 4 vols. Paris: Arts et metiers graphiques, 1946-1949. Vols. 2 and 3, 1946. (Reprinted in 5 vols., New York and London, 1984): no. 859, repro.
[5] See letter of 29 February 1967 from John Rewald to Paul Mellon, as well as the annotated letter of 10 March 1967 from Simon Sheib to Mellon, in NGA curatorial files. Sheib was a laywer acting on behalf of the Swiss client who sold the painting..
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1913
Grosse Kunstaustellung, Kunstgebäude Schlosspltatz, Stuttgart, 1913, no. 314.
1914
Art Français: exposition d'art décoratif contemporain 1800-1885, Grosvenor House, London, 1914, repro.
1924
Exposition Degas, Galeries Georges Petit, Paris, 1924, no. 71.
1937
Degas, Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, 1937, no. 36.
1949
[Degas exhibition], Galerie Max Kaganovitch, Paris, 1949.
2016
Max Liebermann: vom Freizeitvergnugen zum modernen Sport [Max Liebermann: Riding, Tennis, Polo, from Leisure Activity to Modern Sports], Kunsthalle Bremen, 2016-2017, no. 69, repro.
Bibliography
1913
Kunstausstellungen, Kunst und Künstler XI (1913): 579, repro.
1933
"Prices Received in Strauss Sale." Art News 31 (7 January 1933): 3+
1946
Lemoisne, Paul André. Degas et son oeuvre. 4 vols. Paris: Arts et metiers graphiques, 1946-1949. Vols. 2 and 3, 1946. (Reprinted in 5 vols., New York and London, 1984): no. 859, repro.
1970
Minervino, Fiorella. L'Opera Completa di Degas. Milan, 1970: no. 705, repro.
1998
Boggs, Jean Sutherland. Degas at the Races. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, 1998: 154, repro.
2014
Kelly, Franklin. "A Lasting Legacy: The Completion of an Unparalleled Gift." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 51 (Fall 2014):16-17, repro.
2017
Hoenigswald, Ann, and Kimberly A. Jones. "The Question of Finish in the Work of Edgar Degas." In Degas, Daphne Barbour and Suzanne Quillen Lomax, eds. Facture. Conservation, Science, Art History 3 (2017): 20-49, esp. 36-37, fig. 14.
Inscriptions
lower right: Degas
Wikidata ID
Q20189780