29 Works, December 14th. is Károly Lotz's day, his art, illustrated with footnotes #250

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Dobozy and his Wife, c. 1880s

Oil on cardboard

22.4 × 28.3 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

According to contemporary writings, Mihály Dobozi was most likely a noble soldier from Doboz who participated in the Battle of Marót, where Hungarian army formed of serfs and the local gentry fleeing the Turkish invaders entrenched themselves in a cart fortress in a small settlement in the Gerecse Valley. The cart camp was captured by the Turks, and the resisters were put to the sword.

Mihály Dobozi cut himself out of the enemy's ring and, grabbing his wife, Ilona Farmosi, onto his horse, fled. When the pursuing Turkish horsemen almost caught up with the couple, at the behest of his wife not to fall into the hands of the enemy and to save his wife's honor, he stabbed his beloved, and he himself turned to face the Turks, who slaughtered him. More on Michael Dobozi

Lotz Károly Antal Pál, or Karl Anton Paul Lotz (16 December 1833 – 13 October 1904) was a German-Hungarian painter.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Stud in a Thunderstorm, c. 1862

Oil on canvas

126,5 x 191,5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

This is a herd of mares, foals and young horses which are traditionally kept on the Hungarian puszta, and belonging to one of the many studs. The herdsman is usually mounted, but here he is without a horse. His dog stays close to him. Two groups of horses gather around the waterpump. On the background at the right, a troika is arriving, maybe to pick up the herdsman. More on this painting

On returning home from Vienna where he had studied, the young Lotz looked at the Hungarian landscape and people with a fresh eye. His observations were way ahead of his age. Although his paintings depicting the landscape of the Great Hungarian Plains during a  storm were still rooted in Romanticism, their emotional charge, variegated compositional methods and, most of all, their realistic colours justified Lotz's personal ambitions. 

"Stud in a Thunderstorm", painted in 1862, is an excellent example of these qualities. His depiction of the clouds whirling in the depth of the space, his felicitous rendering of the horses and his ability to capture the feeling and unique world of the people of the flatlands could not be matched by any of his contemporaries. More on this painting

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Storm (Storm in the Puszta), circa 1862

Oil on cardboard

Height: 16 cm (6.2 in); Width: 24 cm (9.4 in)

Private collection

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Twilight, c. 1870

Oil on canvas

47,5 x 61 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Lotz studied in Vienna under Karl Rahl and his works show the effect of the great Renaissance masters, Raphael in particular. In the early phase of his art he did some significant representations of native scenery such as the Great Hungarian Plain and the life of the peasants.

The setting sun hidden behind a cloud lights up the landscape of the plain, catching the shepherd and his herd in the foreground and the gleaming surface of the water. The bucolic atmosphere of landscape, the little cottage in the trees in the background and the silence of Nature preparing for rest give great intimacy to this painting by Lotz. More on this painting

Karoly Lotz

Resting shepherds

Oil on canvas

20x30 cm

Private collection

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Peasants Dancing, c. 1860

Oil on canvas

Height: 94.5 cm; Width: 125.5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery

Lotz was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany, the 7th and youngest surviving child of Wilhelm Christian Lotz and Antonia Höfflick. His father was a valet of Prince Gustav zu Hessen-Homburg at the time when the prince was representing Austria at the Congress of Vienna, which among other matters dealt with the House of Hessen-Homburg's rights of sovereignty over Hessen-Darmstadt. The sudden death of the young Baron von Sinclair, chargé d'affaires, forced W. C. Lotz temporarily into the rôle. While in Hungary in 1815 he made the acquaintance of the 13-year-old Antonie Hoefflich, whom he married three years later. She gave birth to 8 children, of whom Karl was the youngest.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Hussar Officers at Camp, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

106 x 171 cm

Historical Picture Gallery, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest

In the center of the painting Count József Bethlen can be seen on the white horse. At his left Count István Esterházy holding his sword and Baron Frigyes Podmaniczky with cigar. Behind the white horse stands Count Dénes Almásy. More on this painting

Count József Bethlen became Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of the whole kingdom. Bethlen, supported by the Ottomans, led his Calvinist principality against the Habsburgs and their Catholic allies. More on Gabriel Bethlen

Count István Esterházy de Galántha was a member of the wealthy Hungarian Esterházy family, eldest son of Palatine Nicholas Esterházy.

His father received the title of Count in 1626 by Emperor-King Ferdinand II, therefore his descendants also could make use of title. Count István died in 1641, when his father was still alive. His younger brother Ladislaus became head of the family in 1645. More on Count István Esterházy

W. C. Lotz died in 1837 and Antonie moved the family to Budapest. Karl attended the Piaristengymnasium, where, although Calvinist, he was awarded a scholarship for his exceptional academic performance. He began his artistic career as a pupil of the Hofkapellmeister Destouches, then in the academy of the Venetian master Jakab Marastoni (1804–1860). Later he was a pupil of the historical painters Henrik Weber (1818–1866) in Budapest and Carl Rahl (1812–1865) in Vienna.

Karoly Lotz

Venus (Kornélia)

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on cardboard

65 x 25 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 14 644 EUR - 21 966 EUR in Dec 2016

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Amor and Psyche, c. 1902

Oil on canvas

142 x 112 cm

Private collection

Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses, written in the 2nd Century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. It concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius, Eros and Psyche appear in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC. The story's Neoplatonic elements and allusions to mystery religions accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth. More on Cupid and Psyche

Karoly Lotz

Temptation (Leda)

Oil on canvas

40 x 24 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 3 417 EUR - 5 370 EUR in Oct 2023

Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom hatched from eggs. Variant legends gave divine parentage to both the twins and possibly also to Clytemnestra, with all three of them having hatched from the eggs of Leda, while yet other legends say that Leda bore the twins to her mortal husband, Tyndareus. Still other variants say that Leda may have hatched out Helen from an egg laid by the goddess Nemesis, who was similarly approached by Zeus in the form of a swan.The divine swan’s encounter with Leda was a subject depicted by both ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance artists; Leonardo da Vinci undertook a painting (now lost) of the theme, and Correggio’s Leda (c. 1530s) is a well-known treatment of the subject. More on Leda and The Swan

Karoly Lotz

Triumphant Neptune, c. 1892

Oil on canvas

75 x 176,5 cm

Private collection

Sold for  €22,222 EUR in Dec 2017

Neptune is the god of freshwater and the sea in Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek tradition, Neptune is the brother of Jupiter and Pluto; the brothers preside over the realms of heaven, the earthly world, and the underworld. Salacia is his wife.

Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics, especially those in North Africa, were influenced by Hellenistic conventions. Neptune was likely associated with freshwater springs before the sea. Like Poseidon, Neptune was also worshipped by the Romans as a god of horses as Neptunus Equester (a patron of horse-racing). More on Neptune

Karoly Lotz

Niobe with her Children, c. 1884

Oil on canvas

78 x 47 cm

Private collection

Estimated for €2,000 EUR - €4,000 EUR in Jun 2016

This oil painting shows a mythological scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is a study for a fresco in the auditorium of the Opera House in Budapest (1884). The depiction illustrates the dramatic killing of Niobe’s sons and daughters. The wife of the Theban king Amphion was so proud of her many children (seven sons and seven daughters ) that she dared to surpass the Titan Leto, whereupon Leto asked her son and daughter, Apollo and Arthemis , to kill the sons and daughters of Niobe with bow and arrow in one day. In the opera literature, the subject of Niobe is often quoted, which testifies to the connection of the present study. In his mythological topics, Károly Lotz oriented to the masters of the Venetian Baroque, such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Thus, it is primarily the dramatizing baroque language that Lotz overtook in his works. More on this painting

Karoly Lotz

Venus and Cupid

Oil on wood

20*12 cm

Private collection

Venus and Love/ Venus and Cupid. Different tales exist about the origin of Venus and Cupid. Some say that Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, had a love affair with Mars, the god of war. Out of this relationship, Cupid was born. 

Cupid has attributes from both of his parents. Like his mother he is considered to be the god of love, or more precisely, the god of falling in love. He is portrayed as an innocent little child with bow and arrows. He shoots arrows to the heart, and awakening a love that you’re powerless to resist.

Venus and Cupid are often shown in intimate poses, reflecting the unique love between mother and child. More on Venus and Love

Karoly Lotz

Thalia, c. 1880

Oil, canvas

180x108 cm 

Private collection

In Greek mythology, a Charis or Grace is one of three or more minor goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, and fertility, together known as the Charites or Graces. The usual list, from youngest to oldest is Aglaea ("Splendor"), Euphrosyne ("Mirth"), and Thalia ("Good Cheer"). In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces". In some variants, Charis was one of the Graces and was not the singular form of their name.

The Charites were usually considered the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, though they were also said to be daughters of Dionysus and Aphrodite or of Helios and the naiad Aegle. Other possible names of their mother by Zeus are Eurydome, Eurymedousa, and Euanthe. Homer wrote that they were part of the retinue of Aphrodite. The Charites were also associated with the Greek underworld and the Eleusinian Mysteries.

The river Cephissus near Delphi was sacred to them. More Three Graces

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Sappho (Contemplation), circa 1880

Oil on canvas

Height: 94 cm (37 in); Width: 74 cm (29.1 in)

Private collection

Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an archaic Greek poet from the island of Lesbos. Sappho's poetry was lyric poetry, and she is best known for her poems about love. 

Little is known of Sappho's life. She was from a wealthy family from Lesbos. Ancient sources say that she had three brothers; the names of two of them are mentioned in the Brothers Poem discovered in 2014. She was exiled to Sicily around 600 BC, and may have continued to work until around 570.

Sappho's poetry was well-known and greatly admired through much of antiquity, and she was among the nine lyric poets deemed major by scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. Today, Sappho's poetry is still considered extraordinary, and her works have continued to influence other writers up until the modern day. Outside of academic circles, she is perhaps best known as a symbol of same-sex desire, particularly between women.  More on Sappho

Károly Lotz Homburg von der Höhe Lotz

The Muse

Oil on wood

21 × 14.8 cm

Private collection

Muse, in Greco-Roman religion and mythology, any of a group of sister goddesses of obscure but ancient origin, in Boeotia, Greece. They were born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. Very little is known of their cult, but they had a festival every four years at Thespiae. They probably were originally the patron goddesses of poets, although later their range was extended to include all liberal arts and sciences—hence, their connection with such institutions as the Museum (Mouseion, seat of the Muses) at Alexandria, Egypt. There were nine Muses as early as Homer’s Odyssey, and Homer invokes either a Muse or the Muses collectively from time to time. More on Muses

Together with Rahl he worked on numerous commissions. Later he started on his own original works, first as a romantic landscape artist in scenes of the Alföld (the Hungarian lowland plain), and then as a creator of monumental murals and frescos in the style of the Venetian master Tiepolo.

Károly Lotz (Hungarian, 1833–1904)

Outlaw

Oil on board

20.5 x 11.5 cm. (8.1 x 4.5 in.)

Private collection

Estimated for  Ft600,000 HUF - Ft800,000 HUF in Dec 2019

Károly Lotz (Hungarian, 1833–1904)

Outlaws

Oil on canvas

28 x 41 cm. (11 x 16.1 in.)

Private collection

Estimated for 240,000 HUF in Dec 2015

Károly Lotz Homburg von der Höhe Lotz

Galloping Outlaw, c. 1857

Oil on canvas

Height: 58.0 cm; Width: 92.0 cm

Hungarian National Gallery 

After various works in Budapest he became active in Vienna. He laid out plans for a grandiose palace, and completed murals commissioned by the Abbot of Tihany Abbey for his abbey church on the shore of Lake Balaton. He became known for his portraits and nudes, for which both his wife and his daughters posed. Lotz found married bliss only at the age of 58, when he married the widow Jacoboy, the former wife of his brother Paul Johann Heinrich, who had died in 1828. From then on he signed his works Károly Jacoboy-Lotz.

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Portrait of Kornélia Lotz, c. 1890s

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on canvas

68,5 x 55,5 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Madonna with Kornélia Lotz

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on wood

10 x 17 cm

Private collection

Estimated for 1 464 EUR - 2 441 EUR in Oct 2013

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Kornélia Lotz

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on cardboard

Height: 20 cm (7.8 in); Width: 54 cm (21.2 in)

Private collection

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Cornelia Lotz in Black, c. 1896

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Oil on canvas

Height: 163.8 cm (64.4 in); Width: 82 cm (32.2 in)

Hungarian National Gallery

Károly Lotz turned to portrait painting more intensely in the 1890s. His model was primarily his foster daughter Kornélia. Practically, his portraits of Kornélia form a series, in which she embodies a bathing nymph and goddess, a bacchante and grand lady, an innocent virgin and a serious woman, all at the same time. From Lotz’ portraits, it is hard to make out what Kornélia was actually like – we just take her as the changeable woman standing for the type of ideal female at the turn of the century. It is fascinating that the modern female personality shines through even the old-fashioned, historicist milieu of the Kornélia portraits, in anticipation of the great female types of the 20th century. The narrow standing format of this portrait of Kornélia in a black dress, the graceful harmony of the mirror frame in the background with the subtly swaying forms of the model already point to the forms of art nouveau, the colour scheme predominated by black also being in line with the tendencies around the turn of the century. More on this painting

Károly Lotz

Károly Lotz, Portrait of Kornélia Lotz with Golden Locket, c. 1900s

Kornélia Lotz was the artist's wife

Watercolor

186 × 132 mm

Szépművészeti Múzeum

Károly Lotz  (1833–1904)

Spring (Portrait of Ilona K. Lippich), c. 1894

Daughter of Gusztáv Koronghy Lippich, head of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, wife of János Szalay from Almás

Oil on canvas

Height: 113 cm (44.4 in); Width: 81.5 cm (32 in)

Hungarian National Gallery

In 1882 Lotz was appointed Professor at various art academies in Budapest, and in 1885 he became dean of a newly established department for women painters. He was an honorary member of the Academy of Pictorial Arts in Vienna.

Lotz Karoly

Vision (Towards the Light)

Oil, cardboard on board

61,5x46 cm

Private collection

His last important public commission was the "Apotheosis of the Habsburg Dynasty", a huge ceiling fresco in the Habsburg Room of the newly rebuilt Royal Palace, that he painted in 1903, one year before his death. Lotz was already seriously ill when he worked on the fresco. The "Apotheosis" followed the traditions of Baroque court painting and the work was praised by contemporary critics. The fresco survived the war unscathed, but it was destroyed in the 1950s.

Attributed to Karl Karoly Lotz (Hungarian, German, 1833 - 1904)

Nude Woman

Oil on canvas

31 1/2 x 24 inches / 79 x 60 cm

Private collection

Estimated for $2,700 USD - $3,000 USD in Apr 2020

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

Bathing Woman, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

180 x 70 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Painting nudes was one of the favourite genres of Károly Lotz, especially during the 1890s he painted several nudes. His female nudes are generally very sensuous, with natural beauty radiating from their gestures. This particular nude is a little abstract; her posture, the cape over the shoulder, and the black stone vessel are reminiscent of the cool grace of Ingres's nudes. More on this painting

Károly Lotz, (1833, Homburg vor der Höhe - 1904, Budapest)

After the Bath, c. 1880

Oil on canvas

128 x 97 cm

Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

He died in 1904 in Budapest. As a "Prince of Hungarian Artists" he was given a state funeral and interred inside a memorial. His pictures, drawings and sketches were donated to the State of Hungary and are now in the Szépművészeti Múzeum. Several Hungarian cities have streets named after him, there are Hungarian stamps bearing his likeness, and there is a bust in the National Museum in Budapest. More on Károly Lotz

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21 Works, September 26th. is Théodore Géricault's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #211

Théodore Géricault  (1791–1824)

Riderless Horse Race, c. 1817

Oil on canvas

Height: 45 cm (17.7 in); Width: 60 cm (23.6 in)

Louvre Museum

The Race of the Riderless Horses is based on a genuine event that Gericault witnessed, in which riderless Barbary horses were encouraged to race each other down the Via del Corso (corso meaning race). Barbary horses were feisty and spirited animals and the riderless beasts galloping down the street would be unbroken and sometimes entirely unused to the presence of people. Carnival in Rome would end with the racing, but after an unwary spectator was trampled and killed in 1874 the practise stopped and the carnival itself went into decline (until recently, Carnival was resurrected in 2008!). However, while the practice was still in its heyday, the horse-loving Gericault saw the spectacle and was awed by the demonstration of power and might as the horses surged past, fighting for supremacy. More on this painting

Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French painter and lithographer, whose best-known painting is The Raft of the Medusa (See below). Although he died young, he was one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.

Géricault, Théodore also known as Géricault, (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)

The raft of the Medusa, c. 1819

Shipwreck scene (Title of the Salon of 1819)

Oil on canvas

Height: 4.91 m; Width: 7.16 m

Louvre museum

The most horrifying part of the shipwreck had been the drama of 149 wretches abandoned on a raft with only some casks of wine to live on, and the ensuing drunkenness and abominations. When the frigate Argus found the raft, after many days, she was only able to rescue fifteen survivors, of whom five died after being brought ashore. After some hesitation, Géricault chose this last episode — the sighting of the Argus by the survivors on the raft. With regard to the latter, he set himself to the task of carrying out an inquest as thoroughly as any examining magistrate. He rented a studio opposite the Beaujon hospital, so that he could make anatomical studies of the dying. More on this painting

The incident became a national scandal, and Géricault's dramatic interpretation presented a contemporary tragedy on a monumental scale. The painting's notoriety stemmed from its indictment of a corrupt establishment, but it also dramatized a more eternal theme, that of man's struggle with nature. It surely excited the imagination of the young Eugène Delacroix, who posed for one of the dying figures.

Manner of Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

The Life Raft

Oil on board

15 1/2 x 18 1/2 in

Private collection

After Théodore Géricault

The wreck, also known as La tempète

Oil on canvas 

505 x 615

Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts

Copy after an original kept in Brussels, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, a sketch (?) At the Louvre Museum, another version at the Lons-Le-Saunier Museum of Fine Arts

Born in Rouen, France, Géricault was educated in the tradition of English sporting art by Carle Vernet and classical figure composition by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, a rigorous classicist who disapproved of his student's impulsive temperament while recognizing his talent. Géricault soon left the classroom, choosing to study at the Louvre, where from 1810 to 1815 he copied paintings by Rubens, Titian, Velázquez and Rembrandt.

Attributed to Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

Nessus abducts Dejanira

Oil on canvas

72 x 53 cm

Private collection

Deianira was a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translated as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". She was the wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in Sophocles' play Women of Trachis.

She was described as the daughter of Dexamenus, Heracles raped her and promised to come back and marry her. While he was away, the centaur Eurytion appeared and demanded her as his wife. Her father being afraid, agreed but Heracles returning before the marriage had slayed the centaur and claimed his bride. More on Nessus abducts Dejanira

 Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

Léda et le cygne/ Leda and the Swan

Oil on board

15 1/8 x 15 in. (38.4 x 38.1 cm.)

Private collection

Leda, in Greek legend, usually believed to be the daughter of Thestius, king of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, king of Lacedaemon. She was also believed to have been the mother (by Zeus, who had approached and seduced her in the form of a swan) of the other twin, Pollux, and of Helen, both of whom hatched from eggs. Variant legends gave divine parentage to both the twins and possibly also to Clytemnestra, with all three of them having hatched from the eggs of Leda, while yet other legends say that Leda bore the twins to her mortal husband, Tyndareus. Still other variants say that Leda may have hatched out Helen from an egg laid by the goddess Nemesis, who was similarly approached by Zeus in the form of a swan.The divine swan’s encounter with Leda was a subject depicted by both ancient Greek and Italian Renaissance artists; Leonardo da Vinci undertook a painting (now lost) of the theme, and Correggio’s Leda (c. 1530s) is a well-known treatment of the subject. More Leda and The Swan

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

Jupiter and Antiope, after Correggio

Oil paper laid down on canvas

13 x 10 in. 33 x 25.4 cm. 

Private collection

Jupiter and Antiope is a frequent theme in western painting.

The painting is based on the story of the seduction of Antiope by the god Zeus in Greek mythology, later imported into Roman mythology and told of the god Jupiter. According to this myth, Antiope, the beautiful daughter of King Nycteus of Thebes, was surprised and seduced by Zeus in the form of a satyr. She became pregnant and bore the twins Amphion and Zethus, who later killed Nycteus' brother Lycus in revenge for his treatment of Antiope and took over the city of Thebes. More on Jupiter and Antiope

During this period at the Louvre he discovered a vitality he found lacking in the prevailing school of Neoclassicism. Much of his time was spent in Versailles, where he found the stables of the palace open to him, and where he gained his knowledge of the anatomy and action of horses.

Théodore Gericault

Mounted Trumpeters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, c. 1813/1814

Oil on canvas

60.4 x 49.6 cm (23 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.)

National Gallery of Art, Washington

Between 1812 and 1814, while Napoleon's armies waged war across Europe, Théodore Gericault began a series of small canvases depicting Napoleonic cavalry officers. These paintings provided Gericault with the opportunity to explore two of the subjects that he loved best: the horse and the pomp of military life.

Gericault does not portray an individual, but rather a romantic ideal of the dashing soldier. The painting's composition is based upon strong visual contrasts. Gericault used short, rapid brushstrokes to define the central figures in the foreground while using broader, more sweeping strokes to create a neutral background. The brightly colored parade uniform gives the painting a sensuous appeal and provides visual unity as it is repeated across the canvas. Produced during the height of war, the artist makes no reference to its hardships or defeat; instead he creates a romantic image of military grandeur. More on this painting

Théodore Géricault  (1791–1824)

The Charging Chasseur, c. 1812

Oil on canvas

Height: 349 cm (11.4 ft); Width: 266 cm (104.7 in)

Louvre Museum 

The Charging Chasseur, or An Officer of the Imperial Horse Guards Charging is an oil painting on canvas of about 1812 by the French painter Théodore Géricault, portraying a mounted Napoleonic cavalry officer who is ready to attack.

The painting was Géricault's first exhibited work and it is an example of Géricault's attempt to condense both movement and structure in its art. it represents French romanticism. More on this painting

Géricault, Théodore dit aussi Géricault, (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)

France École de Officier de chasseurs à cheval de la garde impériale chargeant/ Charging Imperial Guard Chasseur Officer

Oil on canvas

Hauteur 0,53 m; Largeur : 0,4 m

Louvre Museum

Manner of Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

Cavalry soldiers (cuirassiers) in combat

Oil on canvas

26" x 21.5"

Private collection

Théodore Géricault  (1791–1824)

The Wounded Cuirassier, c. 1814

Oil on canvas

Height: 358 cm (11.7 ft); Width: 294 cm (115.7 in)

Louvre Museum 

A single anonymous soldier descending a slope with his nervous horse. In this 1814 Salon entry, Géricault decided to turn away from scenes of heroism in favor of a subject that is on the losing side of the battle. On display in the aftermath of France's disastrous military campaign in Russia, this life-size painting captured the feeling of a nation in defeat. There are no visible wounds on the figure, and the title has sometimes been interpreted to refer to soldier's injured pride. More on this painting

Géricault's first major work, The Charging Chasseur (See above), exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1812, revealed the influence of the style of Rubens and an interest in the depiction of contemporary subject matter. This youthful success, ambitious and monumental, was followed by a change in direction: for the next several years Géricault produced a series of small studies of horses and cavalrymen.

Géricault, Théodore also known as Géricault, (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)

Race of mounted horses going to the left, at the time of departure

Height: 0.27 m; Width: 0.375 m

Materials and techniquesoil on paper pasted on canvas

Louvre Museum

According to Clément, the jockeys were completed by Hippolyte Bellangé after the death of Géricault who had indicated them by a smear.

French School, 19th Century, After Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

The coal cart

Oil on canvas

38 x 61.5 cm

Private collection

During his stays in London in 1820 and 1821, Géricault’s fascination for horses and the lower classes of a newly industrialized world led him to study coalmen and other workmen, which seemed ubiquitous in the city, often accompanying wagons drawn by horses. In a large number of works in graphite or watercolor, he immortalized their plight in compositions that often lend a monumental, dramatic quality to their hard work. More on the coal cart

He exhibited Wounded Cuirassier (See above) at the Salon in 1814, a work more labored and less well received. Géricault in a fit of disappointment entered the army and served for a time in the garrison of Versailles. In the nearly two years that followed the 1814 Salon, he also underwent a self-imposed study of figure construction and composition, all the while evidencing a personal predilection for drama and expressive force.

Théodore Géricault

La Fiancée d'abydos, c. 1850

Oil on paper laid down on canvas

Private collection

This present painting illustrates the final moments of Byron's tragic Bride of Abidos.  Zuleika is the heroine and headstrong daughter of the elderly Pasha Giaffir, who wishes her to marry an aging Bey.  Desperate to escape this fate, Zuleika flees with Selim, the man she loves, to a cave by the sea.  Géricault leaves the cave mysterious and shrouded in darkness, aside from the menacing swords and pistols Selim has hidden there, here shown at upper right.  In the cave, the hero tells his bride his awful secret: that he is the leader of a band of pirates, who are within hailing distance offshore.  As Giaffir's armed men approach in pursuit of the young lovers, Selim fires his pistol to summon his swarthy comrades.  Tragically, he is shot dead by Giaffir before the star-crossed lovers can be saved, and Zuleika dies of grief. More on this painting

Théodore Géricault  (1791–1824)

The Kiss, c. ca. 1816 - 1817

Charcoal, wash and gouache on brown paper

20 x 27.4 cm

Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

In the present scene the artist depicts a couple on a bed with large pillows and draperies that fall in swathes onto the floor. The seated man kisses and embraces a woman seen from the side, her body almost parallel to the picture plane. The artist used charcoal to define the outlines of the figures, emphasising areas such as the man’s neck, hand and leg nearest to the viewer and the woman’s waist. Pronounced white highlights are used to intensify the areas of light falling on the man’s torso, knee and leg and the woman’s breast. A lead-point study for this drawing is in the Musée Bonnat in Bayonne while there is a related oil in a private Swiss collection. Germain Bazin dated The Kiss to the same period as Couple embracing in the Musée du Louvre. In the present work Géricault also depicts the theme of the couple but places most emphasis on the man, who is depicted with a highly developed musculature and an almost Herculean pose. Nonetheless, he also conveys a lyrical note, conveying a sense of tender, human emotion not to be found in other similar images. More on this painting

Théodore Géricault (French, 1791 - 1824) (1791 - 1824)

Three Lovers, c. 1817 - 1820

Oil on canvas

Height: 225.00 mm; Width: 298.00 mm

Getty Center

Théodore Géricault's only known erotic painting, this small oil sketch depicts two lovers locked in a passionate embrace while their languid companion calmly watches from the left. The woman's nudity and relaxed pose evoke the classical tradition of representing repose after lovemaking, a tradition that is also evoked by the way her voluptuous figure complements the statue of Venus above. Encoiled in her lover's arms and with her legs provocatively exposed, the woman in white is an active participant in the amorous act rather than a passive object. With a modern directness, Géricault captured the intensity and energy of human sexuality in a manner very different from the idealizing conventions of his age.

Géricault 's expressive handling of line and paint accords with the passionate energy of the subject matter. Despite the small size and sketchy nature of this painting, Géricault made it as an independent work of art, intended for close private viewing. More on this painting

A trip to Florence, Rome, and Naples (1816–17), prompted in part by the desire to flee from a romantic entanglement with his aunt, ignited a fascination with Michelangelo. Rome itself inspired the preparation of a monumental canvas, the Race of the Barberi Horses, a work of epic composition and abstracted theme that promised to be "entirely without parallel in its time". However, Géricault never completed the painting and returned to France.

After his return to France in 1821, Géricault was inspired to paint a series of ten portraits of the insane, the patients of a friend, Dr. Étienne-Jean Georget, a pioneer in psychiatric medicine, with each subject exhibiting a different affliction. There are five remaining portraits from the series, including Insane Woman.

Géricault, Théodore also known as Géricault, (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)

Horse Attacked by a Lion

Oil on canvas

0.54 m: Height; Width: 0.65 m

Louvre Museum

White horse defending itself against the lion that sits on its back.

Géricault, Théodore also known as Géricault, (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)

Horse stopped by slaves

Oil on canvas

480 x 600

Rouen, Museum of Fine Arts

Théodore Géricault  (1791–1824)

The Race of the Riderless Horses, c. 1817

Oil and pen and ink on paper laid on canvas

J. Paul Getty Museum

As a boy, Théodore Géricault loved drawing horses and would sit in the stables watching and sketching. In 1817, he traveled to Rome where he witnessed the annual Carnival horse race and subsequently made numerous studies of this spectacle. This study marks the moment just before the race begins, when the terrified riderless horses begin their run down the Corso in Rome.

A groom tries to contain a rearing horse in the center, while other men all around push and pull the wild animals, goading them into a frenzied stampede. Géricault used virtually monochromatic colors applied in thick swirls to animate and suggest extreme physical strength. The dramatic use of light and shadow adds energy to the relief-like scene. Géricault mythologized the event: the muscular nude in the center recalls athletes of ancient Greece, and the thrusting horses bring to mind the Parthenon frieze designed by Phidias. Géricault intended to use this study for a grand painting to submit to the Salon, but he had to abandon that plan when he was called back to France on short notice. More on this painting

The paintings are noteworthy for their bravura style, expressive realism, and for their documenting of the psychological discomfort of individuals, made all the more poignant by the history of insanity in Géricault's family, as well as the artist's own fragile mental health. His observations of the human subject were not confined to the living, for some remarkable still-lifes—painted studies of severed heads and limbs—have also been ascribed to the artist.

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault

The Resurrection of Lazarus

Oil on canvas

32,2 x 40,7 cm

Private collection

The Raising of Lazarus or the Resurrection of Lazarus, mentioned only in the Gospel of John, is a miracle of Jesus in which Jesus brings Lazarus of Bethany back to life four days after his burial. According to American theologian J P Dabney, "the usual reason assigned for the omission of so remarkable a story, as that of the resurrection of Lazarus by the other three Evangelists, is that he might still be living, when they wrote, and that a circumstantial account of this event, would have exposed him to the resentment of the unbelieving Jews, but John's Gospel was later by many years: in which long interval Lazarus' death was not unlikely to have occurred" More on the Resurrection of Lazarus

Géricault's last efforts were directed toward preliminary studies for several epic compositions, including the Opening of the Doors of the Spanish Inquisition and the African Slave Trade. The preparatory drawings suggest works of great ambition, but Géricault's waning health intervened. Weakened by riding accidents and chronic tubercular infection, Géricault died in Paris in 1824 after a long period of suffering. His bronze figure reclines, brush in hand, on his tomb at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, above a low-relief panel of The Raft of the Medusa. More on Théodore Géricault

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