Theodore Gericault was born in France in 1791. His family moved to Paris in 1796, where at the age of 17 he chose a career in art although his family was strongly opposed to his decision. He was influenced by Carle Vernet, who specialized in equestrian subjects. In 1810, Gericault was able to obtain a more serious education under Pierre Guérin. This course of studies lasted only six months due to impatience to learn. For the next four years he took it upon himself to take control of his education, and taught himself by copying works of the masters.
The Raft of the Medusa is one of Gericault’s best known works, and is now on display at the Louvre. It was painted in 1818-19, and it was painted on a huge canvas (4.19 x 7.16 m). In this painting, he emphasizes the struggle these men are facing, having been stranded in the middle of the ocean. Their suffering is very apparent in their facial expressions and body language. The moment being depicted is when the survivors have just noticed a ship in the distance, and are desperate for this ship to come save them.
Many of his other works have also have this disheartening mood, such as his painting The Wreck (1821-24). The image of a person, lying on a beach possibly dead after a storm, is very unsettling. He paints this picture using many dark, gloomy colors which suggest doom.
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I find Gericault's later works (specifically his portraits of the metally insane) to be very moving in a way that is different than what we've seen from the artists presented previously. First of all, they are painted in a manner that hardly suggests a narrative or any interaction between the subject and other people (or even the subject and her/his environment). The content is quite simple in comparison to some of the more complex scenes we've viewed from Tiepolo, for example.
Despite its lack of context regarding the life of the subject we are viewing, this style of portraiture presents itself with a level of intimacy that I haven't felt with the other paintings we've seen. Here, the painting is all about the face, the individual. I look into the eyes of the subject, and there is nothing else present to distract me.
Along with this, there is certainly something about the way Theodore Gericault painted these images that makes me feel something about the person I'm looking at. There is something about his style that expresses their state. The most obvious thing might be his use of light and color- as most of the paintings are rather dark, with only the subject somewhat illluminated. Even then, the colors in the brighter areas are kind of dull- like sullen versions of "realistic" skin tones.
I'm still trying to figure out what I love so much about these images. I know I'm drawn to them because they are so human, because they are only human. Perhaps they are also more "timeless" than some of the others since they are not dealing with specific stories, places, etc.
Hey NatH--
I have to agree with you about the portraits. They definitely evoke a strong emotional response from me as well, but I find them more disturbing than moving. I'm not sure whether it's the fact that I now know that they are portraits of the mentally insane that make them so unsettling, but the do have this honesty to them that hasn't felt present in the previous portraiture that we've seen--and that is really beautiful.
I think its hard not to feel an emotional response from Gericault's paintings. I agree, they are very unsettling.
I particularly appreciate his ability to paint clouds and the sky - an attribute that I think helps him convey the sense of doom he is known for. The clouds in his works are more smokey, sweeping, and enveloping than they are billowing and welcoming looking.
As for the portraits, they are creepy. They strike me much like James Whistler's painting of his mother does which is painted in 1871.
I also wanted to make a note of the triangular shapes the groups of people form in the Raft of the Medusa. If I remember correctly from art history, this is typical from the timeperiod.
I have just discovered some early photo influence in his race horse painting. selene
I appreciate the rather dark quality of the atmosphere of his paintings....a bit somber, sad, horrid emotional and probably money, food, shelter times. War was very prevalent all over Europe for many years. People appeared to have suffered massively for a really long time, if we take into account the subject matter of many 18 and 19 century artists. The Raft of Medusa has much written on it about the figure studies, the sense of suffering and torture, the nude male in the forground, etc. It was politically incorrect apparently for some people that it was painted in the first place. Maybe rather like Picass's Guernica, which was also viewed with much anger and hostility.
Gericault was regarded with respect as an authority on what horses looked like when they were running full gallop. With the advent of the daguerreotype photography, as mentioned with Courbet and Delacroix, another gentleman took frame by frame photos of horses running and challenged Gericult's horse positioning. So one could assume, that with the advent of this "tool" perhaps painting could take on more realistic representations? That could be a study in itself, the affects of the camera of large paintings, which would culminate in digital art of today? One could challenge the authenticity of art as seen through the human eye, in the studio setting with life models, and seeing through gadgets, machines, technology? Much fodder for research. selene
I also really enjoyed the dark colors of these paintings. All of the paintings gave me a somewhat gloomy feeling or that for all the people he portrayed, there was still trouble ahead for them.
I thought his choice to paint the portraits of the patients in the mental hospital was a very interesting idea. I wondered if Gericault had any specific reason for painting them (maybe a relative was in a mental hospital) or if it was just an idea that intrigued him?
I agree with Nathalie about the portraits -- there is something very honest about them. I almost feel like by painting them Gericault gives them a voice or a place in history -- he paints those who are forgotten in history and society and in that way gives them power. His use of sullen colors i think adds to the dramatic but sobering depiction of the individuals and adds depth both in style and content.
Gericault painted exceptional portraits with great expression in the eyes. Great tragedy, possibly a reflection of the political strife of his country.His galloping race horses were rendered in a pose typical of all art work up to and including Currier and Ives. Eadward Muybridge, with his camera, proved it impossible for a horse to achieve that position.
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