Race Course at Longchamps

French 19th Century

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows a countryside scene by a wide dirt path with a distant horizon featuring low hills. The light blue sky above is covered in puffy white clouds. Closest to us, at the bottom of the painting, is a grassy green slope with trees in front of the wide path. People sit or stand in the grass, facing away from us and towards the path. Along the path are people on horseback. On the far side of the path is a wide, open field that leads to low brown buildings and a few white tents. Dark smudges suggest crowds of people outside of these buildings. The color scheme includes earthy greens, browns, tans, creams, blues, and whites. The painting uses short, thick brushstrokes, and dots and streaks of paint suggest details rather than showing them clearly.