The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse)c. 1896–1908
Ryder’s subject was inspired by a horse race that took place in New York during 1888. One of the artist’s friends wagered $500 on the race and then died by suicide after the horse lost. More about this work
About this work
Ryder’s subject was inspired by a horse race that took place in New York during 1888. One of the artist’s friends wagered $500 on the race and then died by suicide after the horse lost. Medieval symbolism infuses the composition: death appears as a skeleton on horseback holding a scythe with which it cuts down the living, while a snake—a sign of temptation and evil—slithers in the foreground. An intense man, Ryder worked on the painting for several years and was deeply reluctant to part with it.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Albert Pinkham Ryder
American, 1847–1917
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1928.8
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
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Close in colour
