Today the 125th running of the Kentucky Derby, America's premier Thoroughbred horse race, takes place. 
"And they're off . . . "
Today the 125th running of the Kentucky Derby, America's premier Thoroughbred horse race, takes place.
The Derby is the first jewel in the Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Mix those mint juleps and enjoy the Derby.
The museum's collection contains several artworks depicting horse racing, including The Horse Race, by Johnnie Swearingen.
In 1961, Swearingen received a divine call to paint. Although he produced many overtly religious works, secular scenes such as The Horse Race are based on his life in rural East Texas. To achieve his strikingly off-beat palette, Swearingen worked straight from tubes of oil paints, layering different colors while they were still wet rather than mixing them in a traditional method.
Source: Free within Ourselves (exhibition text, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1992).
Pictured: Rev. Johnnie Swearingen, 1908–93, The Horse Race, 1990, oil on canvas board, 22 x 30 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John Smither in honor of Reverend Swearingen and Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.