Edgar Degas

Sale: Sotheby's, London, December 4, 1968, lot 38
Private Collection, Texas 
Sale: Christie's, London, December 9, 1997, lot 1
Sale: Browse and Darby, London, 1998, lot 6
Acquavella Gallery, New York

John Rewald & Leonard von Matt, L'Oeuvre sculpté de Degas, no. XV, illustration of another cast pl. 64
John Rewald, Degas's Complete Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné, San Francisco, 1990, no. XIV-XV, illustration of another cast p. 70, illustration of the wax original p. 71
Anne Pingeot, Degas Sculptures, Paris, 1991, nos. 49-50, illustrations of other casts pp. 176-77
Sara Campbell, "A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes", Apollo, August, 1995, no. 25, illustratation of another cast p. 23
Joseph Czestochowski & Anne Pingeot, Degas Sculptures: A Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes, Memphis, 2002-03, illustration of another cast in color p. 170; illustration of another cast of the horse p. 171

Work is in very good condition. Dark black patina. Some minor rubbing on inside of legs of jockey from where he sits on horse.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The original wax model for Cheval au galop sure le pied droit was executed between 1882-1895 and cast in an edition of twenty-two bronze examples beginning in 1919, lettered from A to T, plus two casts, numbered HER, HER.D and AP, reserved for the Degas heirs and Hébrard.  The numbers 25 and 35 refer to the subject numbers, which were assigned to the works when they were included in the first exhibition of Degas sculptures at the Hébrard Foundry in 1921. 

Degas' fascination with the racetrack seems to have begun in the late 1860s, when he regularly attended gatherings at the recently established race course at Longchamps on the outskirts of Paris. This interest was very much in keeping with his attachment to the theatre; the social spectacle of the racecourse and the fluid dynamism of the thoroughbred horses parallel the mix of high society and graceful movement found at the ballet. In the years around 1870, Degas sought to use the impressions he built up during these visits to create paintings of this subject, and in characteristic fashion used other media at his disposal to approach his subject from every angle, exploring line, color and mass.

The present work was created from one of the wax models that were found in the artist's studio after his death. The sculptures served a similar function to sketches or drawings, allowing the artist a means of working out his ideas in three dimensional form. They functioned as an aid to understanding the anatomy of the horse, and each variation displays subtle shifts in composition, in the dynamics of movement or of muscular tensions within the body, all which allowed the artist to achieve a greater understanding of his subject.

Another source of inspiration behind the choice of equine subject matter was the work of the photographer Edward Muybridge, whose collection of stop-action or instantaneous photographs created considerable excitement among artists in America and Europe. As the poet Paul Valery noted, Degas 'was one of the first to study the true appearance of the noble animal by means of Major Muybridge's instantaneous photographs' and the increasingly realistic rendering of the mechanics of galloping horses clearly reveal a debt to this new form of photography.