Horse Rearing

Mediums: pigmented beeswax, plasticine, metal fittings, cork on a wooden base.
Location: The National Gallery of Art in Washington (the USA).

Degas adored running and prancing horses with and without jockey riders. The artist made numerous sketches, visiting hippodromes and a circus. This small figurine (just above 30 cm tall) depicts a horse standing on its hind legs. The plastic of the strained hind legs, the rotation of the head of the animal, as always, is impeccable. Without going into detail, Degas conveyed the movement, capturing the slightest nuances of its stages. Not only the original is at the Washington Gallery, but also a copy cast from a copper alloy in the 1920s.