Theodore Gericault laid the foundation for romanticism in French fine art. His painting and graphics influenced realist artists of the mid-19th century.
Birth. Youth
Theodore was born on September 26, 1791. in France. He lived very short life- only 32 years old - so his entire biography is his youth, which showed a new path in the development of painting of the 19th century - romanticism. Even in childhood and early youth, Gericault was distinguished by his waywardness, and later, when he studied in the workshops of C. Berne and P. Guerin, his unusual character was already reflected in his first works.
Teachers and fellow students noted in Theodore’s drawings his irrepressible temperament, self-will, and inimitability. When all the students obediently copied the classic models, Gericault strove to modify the proposed model, filling the image with his energy. And these were always not copies, but reproductions from memory, from a different angle of view, in direct perception, in accordance with the character of the beginning artist. This, of course, contradicted the objectives of the copying lessons, and Theodore even understood the absurdity of what was happening, but he could not help himself.
The teachers, as Gericault recalled, “just laughed.” Soon the young artist, tired of the strict classics, began to gravitate towards the free painting of Flemish artists. He studied their manner, techniques, and color. And this painting turned out to be closer to the heart of the indomitable Gericault. He loved painting very much. But he also had another passion - horses. Theodore was an excellent rider, a connoisseur of horses and a lover of dashing racing. This passion could not help but be reflected in Gericault’s painting.
First paintings
Finally, one day the painting “Portrait of Mr. D. on a Horse” (1812) appeared at the Salon. It was signed by a name not yet known to anyone - Theodore Gericault. It depicted a French officer of Napoleonic army on a hot, rearing horse. He was eager to attack. Those art lovers who were accustomed to classical drawing looked at the new work with surprise and confused displeasure. In Gericault's painting one could read stormy dynamics, hot temperament, and emancipation of feelings. It was intriguing and eye-catching.
The head of the classical French school, amazed by Gericault’s painting, stopped in front of it in a daze, and then said: “What is this? Where? This brush is unfamiliar to me.” It became clear that what the viewer was seeing was not just a traditional equestrian portrait, but the birth of a new historical painting. The main figure of history became not the emperor, but a nameless captain, a soldier scorched by war, a collective image of a warrior who became an instrument of global historical events that time.
The French historian of the romantic period, Jules Meschlet, called Géricault, when mentioning the artist’s first painting, “a strong and stern genius” who created the image of the entire Empire of 1812. Gericault acted as a judge: this is war and there is no idea. The artist took on the difficult and responsible mission of a judge of history. For a painter, such a position meant that they would either turn away from him and stop noticing him, or they would unleash a stream of impartial criticism at him, finding professional shortcomings in his paintings. And so it happened.
When, two years later, he exhibited his new painting, “A Wounded Cuirassier Leaving the Battlefield,” it was received distinctly coldly. The excitement, pain and melancholy expressed in the picture are what accompanied the collapse of Napoleonic army and the greatness of the emperor himself. This position could not please the regulars of the Salon.
Maturity
But Gericault went further. He did not want to be a passive observer, but joined a detachment of musketeers to guard Louis the Eighteenth, who was hiding from Napoleon. Then (1816) he went to Italy to study antiquity. There he conceived a film about horse racing, which is traditionally held in Rome at carnivals. The races involve bareback horses. This, of course, was an ancient classical theme: the combat of man and animal, their passion and single impulse.
Gericault made several sketches, among which the most interesting is “Catching a Wild Horse,” where beautiful half-naked young men try to tame a hot horse. The group in the picture is unique in that it magically combines classicism and romanticism. Gericault did not complete the entire picture of horse racing.
"The Raft of the Medusa" (1819)
After returning from Italy, Gericault found a new theme for his painting, which he called “The Raft of the Medusa.” The frigate "Medusa" crashed, as a result of which many people died, and the 15 people who survived were carried across the ocean for twelve days without food or water, until the brig "Argus" appeared in the distance, saving the people who had already lost hope. Gericault captured exactly this moment on his canvas. The public was familiar with the history of Medusa. And it was clear to her that Gericault depicted not the riot of the sea elements, but the egoistic element of human relations, when people, in extreme situation destroy each other for their own survival.
Critics did not approve of Gericault's painting. And only much later was there a critic who gave a serious assessment of Gericault’s work. It was Charles Clément, the author of the first book about the amazing artist Theodore Gericault. It was he who saw the ideas of compassion, solidarity and humanity in the canvas.
In England
After the failure with the Raft of the Medusa, Gericault left for England. There he mastered the technique of lithography and made several works in this style. And again about the humanity of Gericault’s work: in England he painted several portraits of madmen, in which one can read the author’s deep thoughts about the destinies of people and about time, which leads a person to a break with reality. Essentially, he seems to argue that madness is a person’s rebellion against cruel reality.
Theodore paints landscapes, works on colorism and psychologization of the concept, deepening the inner world person. All this foreshadowed the world of great pictures of powerful talent. An accidental injury (fell from a horse) and a severe painful illness cut short the life of the promising painting genius Theodore Gericault in 1824.
Theodore Gericault
WITH early age Theodore Gericault was only interested in painting... and horses. He often preferred the stables to school, where he could watch the horses and draw them. Young artist knew how to convey the characters of animals, their morals and habits.
French painter, graphic artist and sculptor Théodore Géricault was born in Rouen. His family was very wealthy and sought to give the boy a good education.
In 1808, Gericault graduated from the Lyceum and became a student of the famous painter Carl Vernet, but soon left his studio, dissatisfied with his teaching methods. From Vernet, Theodore moved on to the equally famous artist P. N. Guerin at that time.
Possessing his own creative individuality, Gericault did not continue the traditions of his teachers. The art of A. J. Gros and J. L. David played a major role in the formation of the artistic style of the young painter. The influence of these masters is clearly visible in the early works of Gericault, which reflected the inextricable connection of the master with his era. Like most of his compatriots in the early 1810s, the artist was impressed by the brilliant victories of Napoleonic army in Europe. The painting “Officer of the Imperial Horse Chasseurs during an Attack” (1812, Louvre, Paris) is imbued with a feeling of admiration.
T. Gericault. "Officer of the Imperial Horse Chasseurs during an attack", 1812, Louvre, Paris
Gericault depicted an officer with a saber in his hand, galloping to the attack. His face, gestures, and firm position in the saddle express courage, determination, and readiness to fearlessly meet the enemy. The image of the French warrior embodied all the energy of the nation and reflected the passionate inspiration of the author of the picture. To make the composition more pathetic and dynamic, the master turned the human figure in the direction opposite to the movement of the horse, and also increased the color contrasts.
“Officer of the Imperial Horse Chasseurs during the Attack” was exhibited at the Salon in the same year, 1812. The public enthusiastically accepted the work of the young artist.
The image of the French officer appeared in many of Gericault's works. A proud and brave warrior appears before the viewer in the painting “Carabinieri Officer” (1812–1814, Museum fine arts, Rouen).
A completely different mood is reflected in the painting “The Wounded Cuirassier Leaving the Battlefield” (1814, Louvre, Paris), created in the difficult year of national disaster for France. The hero of the composition is no longer a strong, hopeful warrior, but a disappointed and tired wounded soldier leaning on a saber. The feeling of tragedy is emphasized by the landscape against which the events unfold: a low sky covered gray clouds, a gloomy, hilly plain devoid of vegetation. Nature on the canvas is hostile to humans. Patriotic major notes sounded in previous works Gericault, in “The Wounded Cuirassier” was replaced by a mood of disappointment and sadness, which is associated with real life events - the military failures of Napoleonic army.
Having lost faith in the policies of Napoleon, the recent idol of the French people, Géricault enlisted in the army of Louis XVIII, who ascended the throne in 1814. But the activities of the new ruler of France, under whom a reaction began that destroyed previous democratic freedoms, did not suit the artist, and he soon left the army and began to write again.
In 1816, Géricault went to Italy, the homeland of the great artists of the past. He visited Rome and Florence, where he saw with his own eyes the paintings of many old masters. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo made a huge impression on the French painter. From that time on, his passion for monumental art began. Many of Gericault’s works, written based on Italian impressions, are close in spirit to his work famous representatives High Renaissance. This influence is especially noticeable in the painting “Running of Free Horses in Rome” (c. 1817, Louvre, Paris).
The artist depicted the equestrian competitions he saw at the carnival in Rome, but depicted his characters in the guise of courageous and strong heroes of antiquity. Gericault became acquainted with a similar technique, which gives the picture a pathetic quality, while studying the work of J. L. David.
T. Gericault. "Carabinieri Officer", 1812–1814, Museum of Fine Arts, Rouen
Returning to his homeland, the painter joined the opposition group, the head of which was the master of historical painting Horace Vernet. During this period, Gericault became interested in graphics and created lithographs on military subjects. Of great interest is a sheet dedicated to the events of the recent past, called by the author “Return from Russia.” Devoid of pathos, the lithograph truthfully conveys the tragedy of the defeated Napoleonic army. With sincere sympathy and pity, Gericault portrayed crippled, sick, mortally tired soldiers wandering across a field covered with snow.
The theme of human suffering was continued by the artist later in the famous painting “The Raft of the Medusa” (1819, Louvre, Paris), which was based on real event, which shook all of France. In 1816, a caravan of ships carrying settlers and soldiers sailed to one of the French colonies on the African continent. The warship Medusa accompanied the ships. Under the patronage of a high-ranking official, a nobleman who did not have sufficient experience was appointed captain of the ship. As a result, the Medusa ran aground and sank. All passengers could not fit on lifeboats, and 150 people, among whom were simple people and soldiers escaped on a raft built from the wreckage of a ship.
The raft was towed by boats, but the cables, unable to withstand such a significant load, burst and it was carried out to sea. Salvation came only after 13 days. During this time, most of the passengers on the raft died of hunger and thirst, and many were washed into the abyss during a storm. The sick were thrown overboard, and some of the living began to eat the dead. When the passing ship Argus accidentally discovered those in distress, only 15 of them remained. Soon five of them died.
Two of the rescued, the surgeon Savigny and the engineer Correard, wrote a book about their experience, and the Parisians who read it experienced a real shock. Public opinion sharply condemned the representatives of the nobility involved in the tragedy.
Gericault worked on his painting for a very long time. In an effort to truthfully reflect the events, he studied documents, talked with participants in the disaster, made sketches of exhausted, seriously ill people in the hospital, and painted the dead in the morgues. The creation of “The Raft of the Medusa” was preceded by many portrait sketches and sketches with views of the raging sea elements.
While working on the canvas, Gericault changed its composition several times. At first he wanted to depict people fighting for a place on a raft, but later abandoned this idea.
The artist showed on the canvas the moment when the people on the raft noticed the Argus on the horizon. They reach out to him with hope, waving their handkerchiefs. But many can no longer rise, they are exhausted or have already died. One of the dead is washed out to sea by a wave. The viewer's attention is drawn to the person in the foreground. Looking like an antique statue, he indifferently looks ahead of him, holding the dead young man with one hand so that he does not get washed away into the sea. Gericault managed to convey the different feelings of his characters - horror, immense grief, joy and hope for a speedy deliverance from suffering.
In 1819, the canvas was exhibited at the Salon, but even then Géricault did not stop working on it and, considering that the composition lacked completeness, he added on the right side of the canvas the figure of the deceased, carried away by the waves into the sea.
The opposition-minded French intelligentsia enthusiastically greeted the “Raft of the Medusa.” Representatives of art close to government circles reacted sharply negatively to Gericault’s creation.
T. Gericault. “The Raft of the Medusa”, 1819, Louvre, Paris
The artist hoped that the state would buy the painting, but his hopes were not realized. Distressed by this, in 1820 he took the “Raft of the Medusa” to London. English viewers appreciated the work of the French master.
In London, Gericault met English artists. He studied the city and its surroundings, the life of people living in the capital. English impressions were reflected in a number of lithographic works, including “The Great English Suite” (1821) and “The Old Beggar Dying at the Bakery Door” (1821).
Gericault did not forget about his old love - horses. Heavy and powerful animals appear on the lithographic sheets “The Blacksmith of Flanders” and “At the Gates of the Adelphic Dockyard”; fast horses, carried like the wind, are depicted in the master’s famous painting “The Races at Epsom” (1821, Louvre, Paris).
Returning to his homeland in 1822, Gericault became interested in large canvases in the spirit of Renaissance artists. He worked for a long time on large-format paintings “The Negro Trade” and “Opening the Doors of the Inquisition Prison in Spain,” but his early death prevented him from finishing them.
In 1822–1823, by order of his friend, a psychiatrist at one of the Parisian clinics, Gericault executed several portraits that were intended to illustrate various mental illness. But for the artist it was important to show not the external signs of the disease, but to expose the inner, mental state of people. The portraits turned out to be very emotional and deeply tragic (“Madwoman”, 1819–1820, Museum of Fine Arts, Lyon; “Madman”, 1819–1820, collection of O. Reinhart, Winterthur).
Gericault lived a short life: at the age of 32, he died after falling from a horse. But his romantic work had a great influence on many artists, not only in France, but also in other European countries.
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The “eternally young romantic” was only 32 years old, as they wrote about him in his obituary, the famous French artist of the Romantic era Theodore Gericault, tragically died after falling from a horse. What a cruel irony of fate! After all, a talented young man born September 26, 1791, adored horses, they were the main theme of almost all of his works, they were his second passion after painting.
Possessing brilliant inclinations and a unique artistic talent, Theodore is rightfully considered the founder of romanticism in French painting. His imagination gave birth to images of enormous power. His works are distinguished by the dynamism of composition and color, contrasts of light and shade, extraordinary expression and extreme emotionality of images. Most of the talented artist’s works are kept in Paris, in the Louvre. However, some of them sometimes turn up at auctions and become the subject of fierce competition among true art connoisseurs. Today we present to your attention a short overview of the most famous works of the untimely deceased master of painting. Let's see?
People first started talking about Theodore Gericault in 1812, when the twenty-year-old artist dared to exhibit at the Salon a painting dedicated to the dramatic events of his era (1812). It was written at the beginning of the French army's campaign in Russia and is distinguished by its acute life observations, stormy dynamics and extremely emotional richness of color. On the canvas, the lieutenant does not pose, but fights: the rapid diagonal of the composition leads the viewer deep into the picture, to where the battle is taking place. The young man who served in the royal musketeers expressed the plot as realistically as possible. The work is kept in the Louvre, Paris.
Two years later, Theodore wrote a sequel, conceived as a pair to the previous picture. (1814) reflects the entire tragedy of the situation that developed in France after the defeat of Napoleon’s army in Russia, the disappointment of the people in Napoleonic policies. Instead of a hero striving for victory, an officer is depicted barely standing on his feet, having difficulty leaving the battlefield. The gloomy foreboding is intensified by the landscape with low hanging dark clouds. The painting is kept in the Louvre in Paris.
The most famous painting, unprecedented in the history of art for the strength of pathos and protest contained in it, is the canvas (1818 - 1819) - Gericault created this masterpiece for a whole year. The plot for it was the story of the death of the Medusa ship near the coast of Africa due to the fault of the French government. Then only a few people were able to escape on the raft...
The sharp lighting from above contrastsly emphasizes the tension of the characters in the picture, the suffering nameless people. Theodore demonstrates an exceptionally realistic style of painting and at the same time raises the theme of humanity (the first among the “romantics”). The composition of the picture is built on two intersecting diagonals, which emphasize the rush of people to where the rescue ship is visible, and the spontaneous oncoming movement of the wind, which inflates the sail and carries the raft away. The canvas was acquired by the Louvre at the posthumous sale of the artist's works.
Painting ( "Epsom Derby", 1821) is permeated with movement: the figures of horses rushing, barely touching the ground, merged into one swift line. Everything is moving, even low clouds and their shadows sliding across a wet field. All the contours in the landscape are blurred, the colors are blurred - Gericault, like an experienced rider, shows us the world as a jockey on a galloping horse sees it. The work is in the Louvre, Paris.
One of latest works artist was (1822). In the dying impulse of a desperately resisting animal, the soul of Theodore, bedridden and realizing that he will never return to his former life, is clearly visible. Could he have found another shell to embody himself?
The Louvre also preserves the infamous one (1824), one of a series of images of madmen painted by Theodore Géricault in the last year of his life. The terrible picture fully reveals the terrible truth, it is terrible, but also magnificent in its realism.
Exactly at last years life, when he so needed support, all his friends, supporters and admirers turned away from the helpless Theodore, who courageously continued to paint, without realizing the terrible revolution taking place in the artist’s soul. Several complex operations that he underwent did not help him get back on his feet. The life of a bedridden man turned out to be impossible for Theodore Gericault, who was accustomed to listening to the whistling of the wind in his ears, and who most of all loved to draw and ride horses. The 32-year-old youth was buried as the poorest man in France, unrecognized and forgotten...
, P. Guerin
Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault(fr. Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Géricault; September 26, Rouen - January 26, Paris) - French painter, largest representative European painting of the Romantic era. His paintings, including “The Raft of the Medusa” and “Epsom Races,” became a new word in painting, although their true significance was in the development visual arts was realized much later. Among researchers there is no single point of view on what direction the artist was a representative of: he is considered the forerunner of romanticism, a realist who was ahead of his time, or one of the followers of David.
Biography [ | ]
Family. Childhood and youth[ | ]
Théodore Géricault was born in 1791 in Rouen. His father, Georges-Nicolas Géricault, was a wealthy man: the owner of tobacco plantations and a major tobacco merchant, and his mother, Louise-Jeanne-Marie Caruel de Saint-Martin, came from a family that belonged to the aristocracy of Normandy. The Gericault family moved to Paris in 1796. In 1801, Theodore was placed in a boarding school at the private boarding house Dubois-Loiseau, and then his father transferred him to the boarding house of René Richard Castel. In 1804, Géricault entered the Imperial Lyceum. After the death of his mother, Theodore was raised by his father. The boy began to show an early interest in painting, which was facilitated by communication with his uncle, Jean-Baptiste Caruel, who collected works by Flemish and Dutch artists. His uncle's acquaintances, aspiring artists and students of Guerin, Adelaide de Montgolfier and Louise Swaton, took Theodore with them to the museum, where they copied the works of old masters. The boy spent his holidays in Normandy, where, according to one of his friends, he painted a lot.
Years of study [ | ]
At the end of 1808, Gericault entered training with Carl Vernet, a master of battle and genre scenes, whose work reflected the entire life of imperial Paris. In Vernet's workshop, the aspiring artist mostly practiced depicting horses, became familiar with the anatomical drawing of the animal, and here he had the opportunity to see prints made from the works of English animal painters, and copied Vernet's paintings. Géricault also visited the Louvre, where he studied the equestrian scenes decorating ancient sarcophagi. Theodore began to enter Vernet's house, and with him visited the Franconi circus, arenas and stud farms in Paris and its immediate environs. During his years of study with Vernet, his friendship began with the teacher’s son, Horace; perhaps these friendly relations are the reason why Gericault remained in Vernet’s workshop for so long.
In 1810, Géricault left Vernet's studio to continue his studies with Pierre Guerin, who, according to Etienne Delecluze, was "the only one at that time - after David at any rate - who had a real disposition towards pedagogy." At the beginning of the 19th century, the French public and critics saw in Guerin an artist who moved away from the art of David and his followers. The anti-David reaction played a significant role in this trend; in essence, Guerin’s reforms continued in the direction indicated by the Davidic school. Be that as it may, from the workshop of Guerin, an “adept of the Davidian school” and the least “pre-romantic” master of his time, came the most prominent representatives romanticism. Little reliable information has been preserved about the teaching methods in Guerin's workshop. What is known is that he did not impose his views on his students, and the latter did not receive systematic vocational education. Géricault visited Guerin's studio irregularly for about six months, probably to be able to paint from life and communicate with other students of the master. One of them, the artist Champion, wrote in a new way - with a “thick stroke”, this influenced the manner of writing of Gericault, and later the manner of another student of Guerin - Eugene Delacroix. Theodore continued to visit Guerin after graduation, maintaining contact with him and his students. Subsequently, Theodore was the first to invite Guerin to see the just completed Raft of the Medusa.
Study of a sitter. OK. 1812
As in Vernet’s atelier, Géricault copied Guerin’s teacher’s works and also redrew anatomical sheets. The paintings he painted at that time (“Samson and Delilah”, “The Departure of Odysseus from the Island of Ithaca”, “Defense of the Thermopylae Gorge”), according to Charles Clément, the artist’s biographer, were distinguished by “an energetic brush”; character movements, devoid of monotony; "compositional rhythms" going back to the painting of David. With training from Guerin, the process of forming an individual style began for Gericault, and soon he, no longer needing any guidance, moved on to independent work.
Probably in 1811-1812, Géricault performed about fifty studies with nude models. His painting studies are distinguished from the usual academic ones for that time by his “bold and energetic brush”; unexpected, almost theatrical chiaroscuro effects; intense dramatic mood. The artist does not strive to accurately reproduce nature, but composes for each character new look. One of the typical examples of such studies is “Study of a Model” (Moscow, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts) from the “Gladiators” series. The contrast of deep shadow and harsh light emphasizes the disturbing image of a man “subject to fate.” As V. Turchin notes, these works of Géricault evoke the words of Guerin addressed to his student: “Your coloring is devoid of credibility: all these contrasts of light and shadow can make me think that you are writing in the moonlight...”
At the same time, Gericault wrote sketches of horses, which are fundamentally different from his studies with sitters. The artist worked in the Versailles stables mainly in 1811-1813. He created "portraits" of famous horses, one of his paintings - "Napoleon's Horse" - received an award from Empress Marie-Louise. In the process of work, the artist looked for the individuality inherent in each animal, studied its habits, and practiced accurately depicting the breed. His horses are placed in a specific, most often natural, environment. Gericault painted these canvases with small brushes, working out the details and avoiding large spots of color and strong light and shadow contrasts. The diversity of his writing style, which manifested itself in his work on the studies of sitters and horses, will be characteristic of him in the future. A passionate lover of horses and riding, he created works of a purely animalistic genre, the likes of which had never yet been seen in France.
It was probably during these years that Gericault completed his plaster écorche “Horse,” which was widely known among his contemporaries. In his sculptural works he developed motifs that he later transferred to painting.
Studying the paintings of the old masters[ | ]
Géricault carefully copied paintings by old masters, starting with Renaissance artists. Among those whose originals or engraved repetitions of works attracted Theodore: P. P. Rubens, Titian, D. Velazquez, Rembrandt, Giorgione, Parmigianino and many others. More than sixty copies made by Géricault are known. He continued to study the old masters during his trips to Italy (1816-1817) and England (1820-1821). Géricault also executed a number of graphic sheets reworking themes from paintings by Michelangelo, Carracci, French followers of Caravaggio, and decorative works by 18th-century artists. He did not strive to imitate the original, generalizing a lot, giving more expression to the rhythm, enhancing the color scheme of the picture: “He sought to comprehend the secret of the enormous vitality, the scale of the images of the works of the old masters, their impact on the modern viewer. Striving for active, effective art, he longed to find examples of the same understanding in previous times. This determined the direction of his search.”
Salons of 1812 and 1814[ | ]
In 1812, Géricault presented his work “Portrait of Dieudonné” at the Salon (currently exhibited as “An officer of the mounted imperial chasseurs going into the attack” (Paris, Louvre)). The painting by the artist, unknown until then either to the general public or to the professional community (they even said that he “barely studied”), attracted the attention of critics. She was praised by M.-B. Butard, advising the aspiring artist to take up the battle genre, which in the era of the Empire was placed above the rest. J. Durdan, who published an analysis of the painting in the Galeries de Peinture Française, spoke of Géricault as “perhaps the best of all our painters.” David himself noted the painting.
Probably, the success of "Officer ..." gave Gericault the idea of creating a series dedicated to military history Napoleonic France. But he, unlike the famous masters of that era, did not conceive large-scale works with images of battles and parades, but sought to convey the “spirit of the times” in portraits of soldiers and officers, representatives of all branches of the military (“Portrait of a Carabinieri Officer”, “Trumpeter of the Hussars”, "Three Buglers", "Veteran", "Soldier's Head"). Géricault was not bound by the terms of official orders, like Gros, Girodet and David, and therefore was free in his interpretation of what was happening. His works of 1813-1815 are distinguished by “a bright pictorial temperament, and sometimes subtle psychologism.” They were certainly written from specific people, but there are no clearly expressed individualities here; attention is dominated by the person as a bearer of traits of one type or another.
Paris first saw “Officer of the Mounted Imperial Chasseurs during an Attack” when it became known about the defeat of the French army in Russia (autumn 1812), and at the Salon of 1814 this composition was exhibited in pairs with “Wounded Cuirassier Leaving the Battlefield” ( Paris, Louvre). The 1814 Salon took place after the fall of Napoleon, and Géricault's paintings were the only reminder of the already passing tragic and glorious era, standing out among the works of other artists who chose neutral themes. Art critics, in their reviews of the Salon, either wrote nothing about Géricault’s works or spoke disapprovingly of them.
Gericault's actions at that time were so contradictory that the artist's biographers find it difficult to explain what guided him in his decisions. At the end of 1814 (December), with the assistance of his father and uncle, he, who had recently evaded military duty, acquired a patent to serve in a musketeer company under the command of Lauriston, a privileged military unit. During the Hundred Days, Géricault was in the escort of Louis XVIII, who was fleeing, then, disguised as a peasant, the artist moved to Normandy, where he probably remained until mid-summer 1815.
Despite unfavorable personal circumstances, it was at this time that a new style artist, he turns to new topics, develops new ideas. Returning to Paris, he began work on the composition “The Deluge,” which is a free adaptation of Poussin’s “The Deluge” from the Louvre. This canvas, which is essentially a “dramatic landscape”, was clearly created under the influence of Italian fine art, primarily the work of Michelangelo, which is especially noticeable in the plastic solution of the figures of dying people. Subsequently, Gericault most fully developed the theme of man in the face of the elements in his most famous painting, The Raft of the Medusa.
Italy [ | ]
Géricault, like many European artists, sought to visit Italy to study the works of the old masters. Funds for the trip could be obtained by taking part in a competition at the School of Fine Arts, and Géricault originally intended to write the composition "Dying Paris" for him. However, the work did not work out, and the artist raised funds for the trip by making landscape panels for the house of one of his friends in Villers-Cotterets. This circumstance gave Gericault a free hand: having won the School competition, he would have been obliged to spend six years in Italy (the full duration of his retirement trip), which was not part of his plans. The artist left France for a while for another reason, this time of a personal nature. At that time, he entered into a love affair with his uncle's wife, Alexandrina-Modest Caruel, and was afraid of her discovery.
He visited Naples, painted local landscapes and residents, and studied the works of artists. Gericault spent most of his time in Rome. Having seen Michelangelo's works with his own eyes (he was especially impressed by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel), Géricault, as Clément reports, was shocked. He is fascinated by the monumentalization of forms, and his pen drawings, reminiscent of Michelangelo's drawings (for example, "Man Slaying a Bull"), became some of the most interesting executed in Rome.
Having Guerin's recommendations with him, the artist met with pensioners of the French Academy, whose ideals he did not share. However, his close acquaintances in Rome were (since 1814 he worked mainly as a sculptor), (at that time engaged in genre painting), and. Géricault was looking for subjects for a large composition or several compositions. At first he was attracted to pictures of everyday life, genre or street scenes, but soon the artist cooled towards “sentimental “Italianism”” (Turchin), and he was not interested in ancient myths and ancient history.
Inspiration came at the end of the Roman carnival, in early February 1817. The holiday ended with a competition of bareback horses running through the streets of the city from Piazza del Popolo to the Venetian Palace. A passionate lover of horses, Gericault created a number of paintings on this subject. He conceived a grandiose composition (about 10 meters long). For her, sketches are either precisely captured, well-defined motifs (in the words of Charles Clément, “like portraits”), or variants of a generalized rendering of nature. Gericault worked in modern style and classic antique (finishing the work in an ancient style). For (1817, Baltimore), he used the composition of a popular engraving of the time depicting a competition, in a classicist spirit. Géricault gave the scene a more vital and modern character by using intense color; achieved greater expression by slightly reducing the space and framing the stands with spectators and the figures of grooms holding animals. Another variation of the theme - several sketches developed in an antique manner - of these, art historians recognize the most successful version, which is now kept in Rouen (“”). According to Charles Clément, it is she who is closest to the canvas conceived by Gericault. In this work, the artist successfully synthesized his observations of Poussin’s landscapes, the “rhythms of the Parthenon” (Turchin), the results of studying human images by Michelangelo and the Mannerists. Finally, in the last (according to Clément) (Paris, Louvre), Géricault turned to the generalization of the image. This time he again chose the moment before the start, violating the laws of perspective construction for the sake of greater expressiveness and expression of the composition.
In September 1817, Gericault left Italy. He himself assessed the year he spent there as “unhappy and sad”; apparently, this was due to loneliness, troubles in his personal life and, most of all, dissatisfaction with the results of his work: he never satisfied his thirst for the grandiose, the epic, which possessed many artists of that time . He failed to break out of the framework of intimacy and create a work that was large-scale and addressed to people.
"The Raft of the Medusa"[ | ]
Raft "Medusa". 1818-1819. Paris, Louvre
In the fall of 1817, the book “The Death of the Frigate Medusa” was published. Eyewitnesses of the event, engineer-geographer Alexandre Correard and doctor Henri Savigny, described in it one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the French fleet - a thirteen-day wandering of a raft with frigate passengers who abandoned the ship, which ran aground near the Canary Islands. The book (probably this was already its second edition) fell into the hands of Gericault, who saw in the story a plot for his large canvas. He perceived the drama “Medusa” not only and not so much as a “didactic example of narrow political significance” (the captain of the frigate, a former emigrant, who was assigned most of the blame for the death of the passengers on the raft, was appointed under patronage), but as a universal story.
Gericault followed the path of reconstructing what happened through researching the materials available to him and meeting with witnesses and, as Clément says, compiled “a dossier of testimony and documents.” The artist met Correard and Savigny, and probably even painted their portraits. He thoroughly studied their book, possibly a publication with lithographs that fairly accurately depicted the episodes of the tragic event. A carpenter who served on the frigate made a small copy of the raft for Gericault. The artist himself made figures of people from wax and, placing them on the raft, studied the composition from different points of view, perhaps resorting to the help of a camera obscura. According to researchers, Géricault might have been familiar with Savigny’s brochure “Review of the influence of hunger and thirst experienced after the sinking of the frigate “Medusa”” (1818). He visited hospital morgues, making sketches of death heads, emaciated bodies, severed limbs; in his studio, according to the artist O. Raffe, he created something like an anatomical theater. Completed preparatory work a trip to Le Havre, where Géricault painted sketches of the sea and sky.
Art critic Lorenz Eitner identified several main plots that Gericault developed: “Rescue of the Victims,” “Battle on the Raft,” “Cannibalism,” “The Appearance of the Argus.” In total, in the process of choosing a plot, the artist created about a hundred works; the scenes of rescue and cannibalism on a raft turned out to be the most interesting for him.
Finally, Gericault stopped at one point highest voltage in history: the morning of the last day of the raft's drift, when the few survivors saw the ship "Argus" on the horizon. Géricault rented a studio that could accommodate the grandiose canvas he had planned, and worked on it for eight months, almost without leaving the studio.
Géricault created a composition of four groups of characters, abandoning the classical constructions using parallel lines, he formed an energetic diagonal. From the group with dead bodies and the father bending over his dead son, the viewer’s gaze is directed to four figures at the mast. In dynamic contrast to their restraint are the people trying to rise and the group giving signals. The ocean does not take up much space on the huge canvas, but the artist managed to convey the feeling of “the scale of the raging elements.”
According to Vernet’s student and friend of Gericault, Antoine Montfort, Theodore painted directly on an unfinished canvas (“on a white surface”, without underpainting or colored primer), on which only a preparatory drawing was applied. However, his hand was firm:
“I observed with what close attention he looked at the model before touching the canvas with his brush; he seemed to be extremely slow, although in fact he acted quickly: his stroke fell exactly in its place, so that there was no need for any corrections.” .
David wrote in the same way in his time, whose method was familiar to Gericault from the time of his apprenticeship with Guerin. Gericault was completely absorbed in work, he abandoned social life, only a few friends came to see him. He began writing early in the morning, as soon as the light allowed, and worked until the evening.
The Raft of the Medusa received mixed reviews from French critics and the public. Only years later the painting was appreciated. “The Raft of the Medusa” was a success in London, where the entrepreneur Bullock organized its exhibition. It took place from June 12 to December 30, 1820, and about 50 thousand visitors saw the picture. Critics called "Medusa" a masterpiece that reflects real life, and its author was compared with Michelangelo and Caravaggio. At the same time, not understanding much about the realities of modern French painting, the British considered Gericault to be a representative of the David school. A critic from The Times spoke about the “coldness” that distinguished this school and noted in Gericault’s painting the same “coldness of color, artificiality of poses, pathetism.” The London exhibition of one painting was also successful for Géricault in material terms; he was entitled to a third of the proceeds from the sale of entrance tickets and received 20 thousand francs.
Last years [ | ]
Returning to Paris from England, Géricault was ill a lot, his condition was aggravated by several falls while riding. He died in Paris on January 26, 1824.
Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault (French Jean-Louis-André-Théodore Géricault; September 26, 1791, Rouen - January 26, 1824, Paris) - French painter, the largest representative of European painting of the Romantic era. His paintings, including “The Raft of the Medusa” and “Epsom Races,” became a new word in painting, although their true significance in the development of fine art was realized much later. Among researchers there is no single point of view on what direction the artist was a representative of: he is considered the forerunner of romanticism, a realist who was ahead of his time, or one of the followers of David.
Theodore Gericault was born in 1791 in Rouen. His father, Georges-Nicolas Gericault, was a wealthy man: the owner of tobacco plantations and a major tobacco merchant, and his mother, Louise-Jeanne-Marie Caruel de Saint-Martin, came from a family that belonged to the aristocracy of Normandy. The Gericault family moved to Paris in 1796. In 1801, Theodore was placed in a boarding school at the private boarding house Dubois-Loiseau, and then his father transferred him to the boarding house of René Richard Castel. In 1804, Gericault entered the Imperial Lyceum. After the death of his mother, Theodore was raised by his father. The boy began to show an early interest in painting, which was facilitated by communication with his uncle, Jean-Baptiste Caruel, who collected works by Flemish and Dutch artists. His uncle's acquaintances, aspiring artists and students of Guerin, Adelaide de Montgolfier and Louise Swaton, took Theodore with them to the museum, where they copied the works of old masters. The boy spent his holidays in Normandy, where, according to one of his friends, he painted a lot.
At the end of 1808, Gericault entered training with Carl Vernet, a master of battle and genre scenes, whose work reflected the entire life of imperial Paris. In Vernet’s workshop, the aspiring artist mostly practiced depicting horses, became familiar with the anatomical drawing of the animal, and here he had the opportunity to see prints made from the works of English animal painters, and copied Vernet’s paintings. Géricault also visited the Louvre, where he studied equestrian scenes decorating ancient sarcophagi. Theodore began to enter Vernet's house, and with him visited the Franconi circus, arenas and stud farms in Paris and its immediate environs. During his years of study with Vernet, his friendship began with the teacher’s son, Horace; perhaps these friendly relations are the reason why Gericault remained in Vernet’s workshop for so long.
In 1810, Géricault left Vernet's studio to continue his studies with Pierre Guerin, who, according to Etienne Delecluze, was "the only one at that time - after David, in any case - who had a real disposition towards pedagogy." At the beginning of the 19th century, the French public and critics saw in Guerin an artist who moved away from the art of David and his followers. The anti-David reaction played a significant role in this trend; in essence, Guerin’s reforms continued in the direction indicated by the Davidic school. Be that as it may, the most prominent representatives of romanticism emerged from the workshop of Guerin, an “adept of the Davidian school” and the least “pre-romantic” master of his time. Little reliable information has been preserved about the teaching methods in Guerin's workshop. What is known is that he did not impose his views on his students, and the latter did not receive systematic professional education. Géricault visited Guerin's studio irregularly for about six months, probably to be able to paint from life and communicate with other students of the master. One of them, the artist Champion, wrote in a new way - with a “thick stroke”, this influenced the manner of writing of Gericault, and later the manner of another student of Guerin - Eugene Delacroix. Theodore continued to visit Guerin after graduation, maintaining contact with him and his students. Subsequently, Theodore was the first to invite Guerin to see the just completed “Raft of the Medusa.”
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