Artists - Part 67

Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) was a French painter who was a pioneer in the Romantic movement in art.  Above, a self portrait, 1820.

He was fascinated by horses.  Above, The Charging Chasseur, 1812.  The Chasseurs were the Imperial guard of Napoleon.

Géricault is best known today for The Raft of the Medusa, 1819, above.  In 1816, the French ship Medusa was shipwrecked in Mauritania on the west coast of Africa.  150 passengers and crew tried to sail away in a hastily-constructed raft, but only 15 survived to be rescued, having endured starvation, dehydration, and cannibalism.  The incident, blamed on the incompetent French captain, became an international scandal and an embarrassment for the French government.  The painting drew political criticism when it was exhibited in Paris in 1819, but when Géricault showed it in London it was praised, and it established his reputation.  The painting is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Note the frontal nudity of the figure at left front (click to enlarge).  To its right, the face-down figure was modeled by another young French artist, Eugène Delacroix.

Géricault painted a large number of male nudes, and only a few female nudes.  Above, A Shipwreck, 1818.

Most of his male nudes were called studies, though they look like finished paintings.  Above, Study of a Nude Man, 1801, is now in the National Museum in Warsaw.

Study of a Nude Man, 1808-1812.  Many of Géricault's paintings are not precisely dated.

Study of a Nude Man, 1810-1820, shows a man pulling on a rope.  Two similar paintings of a nude man pulling on a rope were painted either by Géricault or by his followers.

Study of a Nude Man with Sword, 1814-1816.

Nude Warrior with a Spear, c. 1816.

Man Lying Down, c. 1820.

Academic Sketch of a Standing Nude Man, undated, is a beautifully finished painting, not just a sketch.

We end with Study of a Man, undated, showing a naked man holding some kind of club or weapon.  This is a good example of how the Romantic movement in art tried to show drama and emotion.

Géricault contracted tuberculosis when he was in his twenties.  His health deteriorated, and he died at age 32.