Return from the Races 1875

Giuseppe de Nittis's Return from the Races is an oil on canvas, a medium firmly rooted in the fine art tradition. But it is the way Nittis handles the paint that makes the picture so interesting. Look at the scene: horse-drawn carriages, fashionable onlookers. Nittis was clearly interested in depicting the leisure activities of the Parisian elite, and yet the dappled brushwork introduces a democratic spirit. The artist's feathery strokes don't discriminate between the figures and the foliage, between the top hats and the trees. This application of the oil paint blurs the lines between the materiality of the subjects represented and the artistic technique used to depict them. The painting becomes less about accurate representation and more about the physical properties of paint itself. The gestures are quick and sure, yet they evoke the slow, patient accumulation of detail that make up the social scene. By emphasizing process, Nittis suggests that the making of the painting is as important as what it depicts.