Theodore Gericault Art

Theodore Gericault (1791 – 1824) was a French lithographer and painter who is well known for his work called The Raft of the Medusa. He was one of the pioneers of the Romanic movement. Bon in Rouen, Gericault learnt both classical figure composition and the tradition of English sporting by Carle Vernet and Pierre-Narcisse Guerin respectively. Guerin recognized his student’s talent but disapproved his impulsive temperament. Gericault decided to leave the classroom and chose to study at the Louvre, where he copied paintings by Remrandt, Velazquez, Titian, and Rubens. Gericault had a lot of successes in art. However, in 1814, he exhibited a piece of work at the Salon and the work was not well received though he had labored so much to produce it. He was greatly disappointed to an extent that he decided to join the army and served for a time in Versailles’ garrison. While at it, he decided to study composition and figure construction to improve his work. A trip to Naples, Rome, and Florence ignited his fascination with Michelangelo. Rome in particular inspired his preparation of the Race of the Barberi Horses, a monumental canvas and a work of abstracted theme and epic composition that promised to be entirely without parallel in its time. However, Gericault did no complete the painting and returned to France, where he painted The Derby of Epsom in 1821, which became very popular. In France, he did a lot of other great paintings that have made ready to hang framed Theodore Gericault art are very popular to date.