The Jockeys' Dressing Room at Ascot 1923

Editor: Here we have "The Jockeys' Dressing Room at Ascot," painted in 1923 by Sir John Lavery, rendered with oil paints. There's a wonderful busyness to it all, but also a feeling of anticipation, as if everyone is waiting for something. What's your take on it? Curator: It's interesting that you pick up on the anticipation. For me, Lavery's choice of subject matter reflects a fascination with the spectacle of horse racing, deeply embedded within a complex web of social and class dynamics. Ascot itself was – and to some extent, still is – a space where different echelons of British society intersect. What's your initial impression of the figures represented here? Do you find them individually distinct? Editor: They're kind of blurred together, a mix of colors and shapes, particularly in the back. Curator: Exactly. And that's where the social critique, however subtle, comes into play. Lavery gives us a glimpse into a world often unseen – the behind-the-scenes preparations. By not overly individualizing the jockeys, is he perhaps hinting at the often-invisible labor that goes into the ‘sport of kings?' It pushes us to think about the human element within these larger systems of power and entertainment. How much are we meant to empathize, and how much are they part of the machinery of wealth? Editor: That’s a side of it I hadn’t considered before; seeing them as individual cogs in this machine makes me look at it differently. Thanks! Curator: And that's the power of art – to continuously offer new perspectives. I appreciate your openness to re-examining your first impressions.