Nude Warrior with a Spear
Théodore Géricault·c. 1816
Historical Context
Théodore Géricault painted this nude warrior with a spear around 1816, a powerful study of the male figure that reflects his admiration for Michelangelo and classical sculpture. Géricault was a central figure of French Romanticism whose short career — he died at thirty-two — produced works of extraordinary power and influence. This muscular figure study anticipates the physical intensity of his masterpiece, The Raft of the Medusa (1819).
Technical Analysis
Géricault models the heroic nude with bold, sculptural brushwork that emphasizes muscular anatomy and dynamic pose. The warm, rich palette and dramatic lighting demonstrate his study of Old Masters, particularly Rubens and Michelangelo, while the energetic execution is wholly Romantic.
Provenance
Said to have been owned by Phillipe Comairas [1803-1875] and to have passed through the ownership of Dr. Foucault and his brother-in-law, M. de Cuvillon.[1] Léon Abel Gaboriaud, Paris, by 1919; (his sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 17 May 1950, no. 6, bought in); sold 1950 to (Julius H. Weitzner [1896-1986] New York); sold 10 October 1950 to Chester Dale [1883-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA. [1] The painting has no very solidly documented provenance. The claim that it was given by Gericault himself to the painter Philippe Comairas (1803-1875), a pupil of Ingres and a friend of Delacroix, rests on a certificate issued on 2 January 1919 by Georges Sortais, _peintre-expert_ accredited to the Tribunal de la Seine. This may be confirmed by a mention in Charles Blanc's _Histoire des peintres français_ (Paris, 1845), I:442, of "Une grande figure d'atleier [by Gericault] chez M. Comairas, peintre d'histoire." After the death of Comairas, the picture is said by Sortais to have passed into the possession of a Dr. Foucault, who gave it to his brother-in-law, M. de Cuvillon, a painter. (This is possibly Louis-Robert de Cuvillon, a painter born in Paris in 1848.) Charles Clément, Gericault's biographer and cataloguer, evidently did not know of it. It first came to general attention when Léon Abel Gaboriaud, who had acquired it about 1919, lent it to the centennial exhibition of Gericault's work, organized by the duc de Trévise at the Hôtel Charpentier, Paris, in 1924. On that occasion, it won immediate and general acceptance. Its attribution to Gericault has never been questioned since.
