Overview: This first museum exhibition of Edgar Degas' depictions of horse and racing subjects presented 41 paintings, 67 drawings and prints, and 19 works of sculpture, including 16 wax sculptures of horses loaned from the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Several of the wax sculptures and related bronzes were shown with related x-rays in a section of the exhibition examining the artist's working methods. Degas' early painting, The Steeplechase: The Fallen Jockey, was also loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon for the exhibition.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art. Curators were Degas scholar Jean Sutherland Boggs; Philip Conisbee, curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art; and Kimberly Jones, assistant curator of French paintings, National Gallery of Art.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by First Union National Bank and was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. United Airlines was the official carrier for the exhibition.