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THÉODORE GÉRICAULT
Rouen 1791 ~ 1824 Paris
Théodore Géricault was
one of the most significant French artists of the early 19th century. His style falls somewhere between the Romantic and Neo-classical movements. He sought after a 'grand style' which could express modern subjects.1 His most useful training was the copying of the finest Old Master paintings, in the Louvre, from both northern and southern Europe. He strongly favoured the violent action and colour of Napoleonic art including painters of modern military subjects such as Antoine-Jean Gros. Thus, he presented himself at the Salon of 1812 with the picture, Charging Chasseur,
Paris, Musêe du Louvre. In 1816 he went to Italy and upon his return created his most monu-mental and dramatic painting, Raft of the Medusa, for the Salon of 1819. He was a prolific draughtsman and
watercolourist and a most important influence on both the Romantic, Delacroix, and the Realist, Courbet.
The style and technique of our drawing, with its light and very spontaneous underdrawing in pencil
completed in parts with tonal washes and watercolour, indicate a date of c. 1820–23. When drawing or making lithographs at this time, Géricault frequently turned to contemporary political subjects often based on newspaper accounts. The scene represented on our sheet may be a fait divers typical of the Bourbon Restoration – possibly a street encounter between a reactionary priest and a French soldier. However, a scene related to the French invasion of Spain in 1823, when French soldiers clashed with members of the clergy, seems more likely. There is a comparable drawing of a Street Brawl in the Print Room, British Museum,2 and related pencil drawings of soldiers in the Musée Bonnat, Bayonne.3
1. Lorenz Eitner, 'Théodore Géricault', The Dictionary of Art, Vol. 12, London, 1996, p.348.
2. B.M. (1920-2-16-3).
3. Musée Bonnat (inv. 575, 578). Cf. G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault, Vol. V, Paris, Wildenstein Institute,1997, nos. 1473, 1475 illus.
Lorenz Eitner has given very generous help with this entry.
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