Every impressionist painter had their own contribution to the style of art known as Impressionism; Monet had his water lilies, Pissaro his romanticized rural workers, and Degas had his dancers. Though each painter may be known for a certain subject field and style, most explored and had interests in other elements of life. Degas for example, before his work with dancers, had a fascination with the newly imported sport of Horse Racing. In the included painting by Degas, "Le Champ de courses, jockeys amateurs près d'une voiture", he depicts the exciting moments right before the beginning of a race. This is undoubtedly a great example of impressionist artwork, whether it be the nouvaux subject matter or the colors and styles of brushstroke used, the elements are all in place to create an impressionistic masterpiece.
Before Degas began his seeming obsession with dancers, he worked in the newly popularized and uncharted world of horse racing. With the new Longchamp racetrack being build in the mid 1800s French artists were able to depict the horse in a whole new perspective, separate from it's previous use in war portraits for the salon. According to the Eyewitness Art book on Impressionism "Degas produced 45 paintings, 20 pastels, some 250 drawings, and 17 sculptures on the racehorse theme." The interesting thing, as my friend and Parisian tour guide explained to me, is that Degas developed an eye condition causing a high sensitivity to sunlight. Thusly his work inside began. Degas wasn't extremely fond of the ballerinas that he focused so much on, he actually despised their incessant need to stretch and crack there bones, and according to a quote from the smithsonian [his] "chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes". Never the less the horse races and the ballerinas were his way of expressing modern life/everyday life, and important characteristic of impressionist artwork.
