Théodore Géricault (1791-1824)
France

Théodore Géricault grew up in the turbulent period of the French Revolution and the reign of Napoleon. He studied with many important artists, but the strongest influence on his art, if we don't consider Goya, came from a painter named Baron Jean-Antoin Gros (1771-1835). Géricault drew much inspiration from Gros's canvases, which often made Napoleon the main character of an emotional glorification, and started to build his view for Romantic interpretation and for Romantic styles. Géricault was fascinated by violence and horror, and like other romantics sought and painted the passion and the emotions that overwhelm topical events, so he made a series of bloodcurdling paintings of decapitated heads of criminals. These are an example of how Géricault searched strange, dark and previously unknown images. His studies reflected his will to understand the awful nature of pain, suffering, violence and death, as well as his behavior: he often attempted to commit suicide and he had a bad habit of riding dangerous horses. The series of mad men and women paintings confirm how Géricault courted madness and insanity. His studies on those subjects demonstrates a fundamental shift in the concept of art and of what it is supposed to depict. The famous "Raft of the Medusa" showed Géricault's ability to plan out and complete a wide and ambitious history painting. In fact the story of the raft was a popular subject that interested many of his contemporaries: the titanic struggle of man against the forces of nature was a theme gorgeously presented in his painting by the immense sea and the stormy atmosphere terrorizing the powerless occupants of the raft. Ultimately, Géricault left us just four or five works completed, which was a condensation of research expressed in notes and studies. He believed in the heroism that is achieved through risky experiments-- he spend his life performing and actually living the emotions he wanted to depict. Géricault died from a fall off a horse in 1824.

Works

Wounded Cuirassier, 1814. Oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Raft of the Medusa, 1819, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Madwoman, 1822, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.