The Race Track

Jean-Louis Forain

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a wide, grassy green field with distant green hills under a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. To the right of center, two men and one woman seem to be engaged in conversation. One man wears a dark suit with a long jacket over it and a top hat, and the other man wears a red shirt with tan breeches, tall black boots, a shorter brown coat, and a round hat. The woman wears a long pink dress with a ruffled black neckline and a large pink hat. Behind them, on the left, are four people riding horses, all headed towards the back left. On the far left, more men and women in dresses and suits seem to watch as the horses and riders race by, one woman holding a large white parasol. All of the people appear to have light skin, and their facial features are indistinct. The brushstrokes in the painting are loose and visible, and the landscape and sky are painted with short, overlapping lines going in different directions, giving the scene a hazy impression.