The Riders 1876

Edgar Degas created this pastel drawing of horses and riders to capture their movements in the French countryside. Notice how Degas structures the scene with a long horizontal band of green, punctuated by the vertical forms of horses and riders. This reflects his interest in Japanese prints, which often played with asymmetrical compositions. Look closely at the texture—the strokes of pastel create a hazy effect, softening the edges of the figures and blending them into the landscape. Degas was fascinated by how things move. He uses repetition of forms—the horses' legs, the riders' postures—to suggest motion. Yet, at the same time, they're frozen, caught in a moment that never existed. Degas questions our perception, challenging us to think about how we see and understand the world around us. The pastel medium itself—fragile and ephemeral—adds to the sense of fleeting time. Degas doesn't just show us horses; he makes us think about movement and time.