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Overview
Painter and printmaker John Copley (1875-1950) was born in Manchester. He trained at Manchester School of Art and in the studio of Nicol and Cope before entering the Royal Academy in London.
Copley took up lithography in 1906 and in 1910 helped Joseph Pennell set up the Senefelder Club for the revival of lithography as a creative medium, acting as its secretary from 1911 to 1915. It was here he met his wife and fellow lithographer Ethel Gabain, whom he married in 1913. He soon emerged as one of the pre-eminent lithographers working in England in the first half of the twentieth century. He produced over 250 lithographs in the period up to 1938, working initially in colour but then exclusively in black and white, as in this print. In 1930 he was presented with the chief award and medal at the first International Exhibition of Lithography at the Art Institute of Chicago.
This lithograph is a fairly late work. It reflects both Copley's admiration of another printmaker who was fascinated by racehorse/course themes, Edgar Degas, as well as the artist's own experience of seeing horses like these from the vantage point of a racecourse stand, hence the elevated viewpoint. Te Papa has another impression of the same print (1965-0001-11); both were presented to the National Art Gallery by Sir John Ilott, who purchased them from Copley's London dealer, Conalghis.
See: Gerrish Fine Art, John Copley (1875-1950), https://www.gerrishfineart.com/search.asp?types=Copley%2C+John+%281875%2D1950%29
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art April 2018