The Races at Longchamp
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''The Races at Longchamp'' is an 1866 painting by the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
artist
Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 â€“ 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...
. The
Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
painting depicts the ending of the Second
Grand Prix de Paris The Grand Prix de Paris is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it ...
at Longchamp. It is currently in the collection of the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
. This painting is one of four depictions of the same subject that Manet created over four years. The painting reflects the rise of horse racing in France, following the influence of the British. The work is thought to be the first painting to present horses coming directly toward the viewer, and it uses various techniques to reduce the sense of depth.


Background


Rise of horse racing in France

Before the 1830s, horses' only use in French society was for royal hunts, parades, or fairs. But in the 1830s, horse racing began to take hold, primarily due to the influence of the British. Many French emigrés who had left during
Napoleon's Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
reign and were returning after the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
had stayed in Britain during their leave and returned with a newfound love of horse racing, which was already strong in Britain among the upper class.
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
, who would begin his reign in 1842 and strongly influence the nation, also grew up in Britain and brought home an interest in horse racing. Finally, many British businessmen at the time were living in French cities, including Paris, and were leaving their impression on French social life. They began establishing clubs in France, including "
The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...
," which would be play a major part in the creation of Longchamp.


Creation and significance of the Hippodrome de Longchamp

As Napoleon III was considering plans for the
Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by t ...
, he was approached by the Jockey Club to consider a racetrack as part of the park. Previously, the club's only tracks were lower tier, and they recognized the benefits that a new track presented to them and France.
Charles de Morny Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny, 1er Duc de Morny () (15–16 September 1811, Switzerland10 March 1865, Paris) was a French statesman. Biography Morny was born in Switzerland, and was the extra-marital son of Hortense de Beauharnais (the wi ...
, later duc de Morny, was a powerful member of the club and was the leading creator of the plans for Longchamp. Napoleon, who was fond of horse racing, was eager to agree to Morny's plan, realizing that it would bring them closer to the status of Britain and create another public attraction. Paris would continue to own the land and pay for the changes to the grounds to make it suitable for racing. The Jockey Club would put their resources towards the racecourse infrastructure, such as the stands, and received a fifty-year lease with annual rent. The building was done somewhat poorly, but the course was eventually opened in 1857. Longchamp quickly became well known and was a popular spot for upper-class visitors. While its most popular times were during racing season, from April to September, it was still used for social events during the off-season. Most visitors did not follow the races closely, instead using the pretext of the race to socialize. Attendees included artists such as Manet and
Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...
(who sketched Manet at Longchamp). The Jockey Club put together races such as the Grand Prix and paid out the rewards to the winning horses, often using money raised by outside sources. For example, the first Grand Prix in 1863 was funded by both Paris and the five main rail companies in France.


Manet and horse racing

A major desire for horse racing art arose from wealthy British men asking for pieces based on horses and races that had won them money through gambling. Prints of these works would inevitably reach France, which would provide inspiration to Manet, proven by comments left in his notebooks acknowledging the prints. Manet's first full horse race painting was ''Les Courses de
Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city located in the Oise department **US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly, a historic château located in the town of Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missou ...
'', created in 1864. But prior to this, there is evidence of Manet sketching race scenes in his notebooks, such as in a notebook dated 1855. These sketches were primarily a study of the crowd at the racecourse or the scenery behind it, not the race itself. Manet probably drew these sketches at a lower-tier race course since they were drawn from a low vantage point. Manet most likely started ''Longchamp'' while working on '' Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe,'' which may have inspired the painting.


Second running of the Grand Prix de Paris

On Sunday, June 5, 1864, the second running of the Grand Prix de Paris was held at Longchamp. The first Grand Prix the year prior saw an English horse win the race. A hundred thousand Parisians, including Manet, watched the 1864 race unfold as the favorite, Blair Athol, an English horse, raced against the local star Vermouth. Blair had won the 1864
Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...
and was a 2-1 favorite at post-time. But Blair never led and Vermouth won by two full-lengths. This race would be the setting of Manet's painting.


Description and analysis

The most noteworthy aspect of the work is the unprecedented view of horses racing directly toward the viewer. Before this, horse racing was generally shown from the side, and Manet himself would go back to this in 1872 in his work ''The Races in the Bois de Boulogne.'' The art historian Juliet Wilson-Bareau notes that this presentation of the horses makes them appear "as if exploding from a distant mass of trees in the background." The viewer, who seems to be standing on the track, is set facing south, towards
Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthiest towns ...
. The pole with the circle on top marks the race's finish line, which serves an important role for Manet. Wilson-Bareau comments that "a sweep of green hills high up on the canvas, on the distant horizon, is 'pinned' to the foreground and the picture plane by the circular top of a furlong marker on the track," reducing the perceived depth of the work. Manet further manipulates the depth of the work, according to the art historian Françoise Cachin, by creating "an effect analogous to that of a photographer telescoping toward a subject with a zoom lens; the area in focus grows in proportion to the framing edges, and the depth of field decreases." While both sides show the crowd paying full attention to the race, the left side of the painting depicts the wealthier part of the crowd, which is clearer than the crowd on the right side. Manet draws attention to multiple details in the crowd. First, in the bottom left, there are two women spectators. The second woman in beige is Manet's wife,
Suzanne Leenhoff Suzanne Manet (, ; ; 30 October 1829 – 8 March 1906) was a Dutch-born pianist and the wife of the painter Édouard Manet, for whom she frequently modeled. Suzanne An excellent pianist, Leenhoff was initially hired in 1851 by Manet's father, ...
, who had also modeled for Manet in previous portraits. Further in the background, a man is standing holding binoculars, watching the race. This man is taken straight from
William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Sleep ...
's ''
The Derby Day ''The Derby Day'' is a large oil painting showing a panoramic view of The Derby, painted by William Powell Frith over 15 months from 1856 to 1858. It has been described by Christie's as Frith's "undisputed masterpiece" and also "arguably the ...
'', where he appears in the middle of the work holding binoculars. Finally, a pink banner can be seen in the back, flying over the crowd. On the right side of the painting, the Tribune Publique stands above part of the crowd. This building catches the viewer's eye, "emphasizing the flatness of the canvas yet also the sense of speed, recession, and limitless space," according to Wilson-Bareau. Manet constructed the work using very loose brushstrokes. The track the horses run on is composed primarily of horizontal strokes, like the top of the hill. The rest of the hill is constructed of diagonal strokes, as are the two full trees, the large one directly behind the horses. The thinner trees and the fence are made mainly vertical strokes. The sky and crowd are both made of varied dabs of paint.


Versions


1864 painting

This was the original painting Manet made of Longchamp and is believed to have been submitted by him to an 1865 exhibition hosted by the art dealer Louis Martinet. However, there is debate over this fact. In a letter, Manet told Martinet he would send nine works, but he ultimately sent six works, of which two were displayed. It remains unclear whether ''Longchamp'' was among the two. Manet cut the painting up in 1865. Only two pieces of the composition are known to survive.


1864 watercolor

The timing of this work is also unclear. It may have been completed before the 1864 oil painting to assist Manet in completing that work, or it may have been made after the painting in an attempt to preserve the work. The watercolor is made up of two separate sheets joined together, with the right sheet resembling the Chicago painting. The work is currently held at the
Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...
.


Chicago painting

The oil painting held at the Art Institute of Chicago is the most widely known version of the work and was created in 1866. While there had been debate about its creation date due to the smudging of the inscription on the work (read variously as 1865 or 1867), a microscopic examination of the work indicated that the date is 1866. The relationship of this work to the other versions is also unresolved. Art historian Theodore Reff writes, "although his paintingshows the most important section of the large composition
anet Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km nort ...
exhibited in 1865, it cannot actually belong to it; it is painted in a more vigorous, sketchy style than the surviving two fragments, and it includes at the lower left two female spectators very close to those shown in one of the fragments." Reff further concludes that the work must have been done in preparation for the 1867 painting as both shared a one to two scale. But Jean Harris claims that this work "must be a further reworking of the right section of the original
864 __NOTOC__ Year 864 ( DCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis II (the Younger) marches with a Frankish army ag ...
painting" done by a "desire for simplification and unification."


1867 painting

This work was a piece of the 1864 painting and was displayed by Manet in 1867. However, this painting has been lost, with the last known sighting of it being in 1871 in Manet's studio.


Reception

After the painting's exhibition, it received generally negative reviews. Critics dismissed it as a sketch; the journalist
Joséphin Péladan Joséphin Péladan (28 March 1858 in Lyon – 27 June 1918 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French novelist and Martinist. His father was a journalist who had written on prophecies, and professed a philosophic-occult Catholicism. He established the ...
described it as a "nice sketch, one that could be a painting." Since then, it has been widely accepted as a finished painting.


See also

*
List of paintings by Édouard Manet A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* 1866 in art


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Races at Longchamp, The 1866 paintings Paintings by Édouard Manet Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago Horses in art Sports paintings