Watercolour on board
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/louis-anquetin-651" aria-label="More by Louis Anquetin" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Louis Anquetin</a>
Finish Horse Race
Bequeathed by Frank Hindley Smith 1940
adults
animals: actions
animals: mammals
architecture
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
crowd
equestrian and sporting
fence
France
groups
horse
horse racing
jockey
leisure and pastimes
man
natural phenomena
Paris, Bois de Boulogne, Longchamps Racecourse
people
places
running
shadow
sport
sunshine
townscapes / man-made features
weather
work and occupations
painting watercolour board
The Finish of the Horse Race
support: 260 × 530 mm
Bequeathed by Frank Hindley Smith 1940
<p><b>Louis Anquetin</b><span> 1861-1932 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/anquetin-the-finish-of-the-horse-race-n05074" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05074</span></a> </span><b>The Finish of a Horse Race</b><span>
</span><i>c</i><span>.1898-9 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Not inscribed</span>
<br/><span>Watercolour on paper, 14 7/8 x 23 3/8 (37.8 x 64.2); the picture occupies an area 10 5/8 x 21 7/16 (27 x 54.5)</span>
<br/><span>Bequeathed by Frank Hindley Smith 1940</span>
<br/><i>Prov:</i><span>
Frank Hindley Smith, Southport</span>
<br/><i>Exh:</i><span>
</span><i>The Tate Gallery's Wartime Acquisitions</i><span>, National Gallery, London, April-May 1942 (1); </span><i>A Selection from the Tate Gallery's Wartime Acquisitions</i><span>, CEMA touring exhibition, September 1942-September 1943 (1)</span>
<br/><i>Lit:</i><span>
Robert H. Sherard, 'Louis Anquetin, Painter' in </span><i>Art Journal</i><span>, 1899, p.89</span>
<br/><i>Repr:</i><span>
</span><i>Connoisseur</i><span>, CVIII, 1941, p.165; John Rothenstein, </span><i>Modern Foreign Pictures in the Tate Gallery</i><span> (London 1949), pl.77 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Another <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/watercolour" title="Glossary definition for 'Watercolour'"><span>watercolour</span></a> of this <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> was in 1953 in the possession of the artist's step-daughter Mme C. du Ferron-Anquetin in Paris. The image is the same size and resembles this work very closely, but has the jockeys on the right unfinished and is slightly less detailed and precise. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>Robert H. Sherard, writing in 1898 or early 1899, records that while preparing to paint a life-size picture of the races at Auteuil for the Paris International Exhibition of 1900, Anquetin visited various racecourses in search of documentation, and obtained permission to study his subject from life at Longchamps. At Auteuil, on the other hand, his application was refused. The two watercolours may have been by-products of this. The large <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> was never exhibited and it is possible that this project was left unrealised. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>An oil painting 49 x 71.5cm, rather similar to the watercolours and apparently done about the same time, was sold at Sotheby's on 5 July 1973, lot 38 repr. as 'The Finish of the Grand Prix at Longchamps'. It also shows racehorses nearing the finishing post, with a crowd of spectators behind, but there is no feature that is exactly the same. In addition, Mme du Ferron-Anquetin owned a pair of oil paintings of racecourse scenes, each 40 x 100cm, one showing the finish of a horse-race, and the other fashionable people at the course. The former has the horses in rather similar attitudes, but the gap between the leader and those following is greater, the crowd is much further back and there are no rails, and the stand of Longchamps racecourse can be seen in the background. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>There are also several <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/lithography" title="Glossary definition for 'Lithography'"><span>lithographs</span></a> of horse-racing scenes, including one, 'A Canter', which is reproduced in </span><i>Le Courrier Français</i><span>, 15 May 1898, pp.6-7. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><span>Ronald Alley, </span><i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i><span>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.15-16, reproduced p.15</span>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults animals: actions animals: mammals architecture cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents crowd equestrian and sporting fence France groups horse horse racing jockey leisure and pastimes man natural phenomena Paris, Bois de Boulogne, Longchamps Racecourse people places running shadow sport sunshine townscapes / man-made features weather work and occupations