Théodore gericault self portrait

Théodore géricault birth and death
Théodore géricault medusa
Eugène delacroix

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Théodore Géricault

French painter (1791–1824)

Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (French:[ʒɑ̃lwiɑ̃dʁeteɔdɔʁʒeʁiko]; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is The Raft of the Medusa. Despite his short life, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.

Early life

Born in Rouen, France, Géricault moved to Paris with his family probably in 1797, where Théodore's father obtained employment in the family tobacco business based at the Hôtel de Longueville on the Place du Carrousel. Géricault's artistic abilities were likely first recognized by the painter and art dealer Jean-Louis Laneuville. Laneuville lived at the Hotel de Longueville alongside Jean-Baptiste Caruel, Théodore Géricault's maternal uncle, and other members of the extended Géricault family.^[1]

In 1808, Géricault began training at the studio of Carle Vernet, where he was educated in the tradition of English sporting art by Carle Vernet. In 1810, Géricault began studying classical figure composition under Pierre-Na

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Summary of Théodore Géricault

Géricault's short career had a huge impact on the history of modern art and the evolution of French 19^th century painting in particular. His radical choice of subjects taken from contemporary life, his fusion of classical forms with an atmospheric, painterly style, his passion for horses, his attraction to sublime and horrific subjects, and his compassion for the weak and vulnerable in society make him a singularly complex artist, but one who helped set the path for Romanticism's emphasis on emotion and subjectivity. His most famous work, The Raft of the Medusa, was a watershed moment in the history of modern art, as it married the immediacy of current events and an eyewitness sensibility with the traditional, monumental format of a grand Salon painting. Much of Gericault's work relied on keen observation, social awareness and at times a politically engaged view of the world around him. Indeed, a unique combination of realism and raw emotion can be seen in many of his works, including the late series of monomaniacs and his earlier "portraits" of

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Géricault was born in 1791 into a wealthy family in Rouen that moved to Paris some years later. He received his first, short-lived art classes in Paris in the studios of Carle Vernet and Pierre Guérin. In 1811 Géricault decided to be responsible for his own training and began to copy works by the Old Masters in the Louvre. Aged only twenty-one and almost completely selftaught, in 1812 Géricault presented his first major work at the 1812 Salon, entitled Officer of the Imperial Guard on Horseback (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Over the following years Géricault continued copying and in 1814 he again showed a work at the Salon, entitled The Wounded Cuirassier (Musée du Louvre). This more elaborate composition was not as well received as the first one.

Having failed to gain a prize in the Prix de Rome, Géricault decided to travel to Italy at his own expense. Once there he was particularly impressed by the works of the Italian Renaissance artists, above all Michelangelo, and by Rubens. During his stay in Rome Géricault executed a series of paintings of the horse race known as the Cor