Théodore Géricault on His Deathbed
Historical Context
Charles Emile Champmartin painted this posthumous portrait of Théodore Géricault on his deathbed in January 1824, when the great Romantic painter died at age 32 from the effects of a riding accident and chronic illness. The image documents one of the most mourned losses in French art, as Géricault's death cut short a career of extraordinary promise that had produced the epochal Raft of the Medusa.
Technical Analysis
The intimate oil on canvas captures the pallor of death with restrained sensitivity, using a limited palette of muted tones. The close framing and soft modeling of Géricault's features convey both documentary precision and emotional gravity.
Provenance
Possibly Champmartin Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, January 28-29, 1884, lot 273 [see Paris 1992]. Possibly Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, January 28, 1888, lot 112 [see Paris 1992]. Foynard, Paris; sold to Richard Goetz, Paris, by about 1914 [according to Richard Goetz's letter of December 14, 1937 to Robert Harshe, stating that he acquired the picture “at ‘Monsieur Foynard’ before war, the same as all my other Gericaults I bought at the period. Formerly in the collection ‘Chamartin’ (sic),” copy in curatorial file]; sold with sequestered property of Richard Goetz, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, February 23-24, 1922, lot 138, but presumably bought in and retained by Goetz [see copy of annotated sale catalogue from Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, in curatorial file]; sold through J. Rosner, Paris, as agent for Richard Goetz, to the Art Institute in November 1937 [based on receipt 6376 in Registrar’s office and letter from Goetz to Harshe cited above; see also Adry 1937].
.jpg&width=600)