Entrance to the Adelphi Wharf (Primary Title)
The English Series (Series Title)
Théodore Géricault, French, 1791 - 1824 (Artist)
Rodwell & Martin, British, 1819 - 1846 (Publisher)
Charles Hullmandel, British, 1789 - 1850 (Printer)
Dissatisfied by the limited success of the Raft of the Medusa, Géricault began to focus on his immediate surroundings for artistic inspiration. From 1820 to 1822, Géricault traveled to England where he captured scenes of everyday life at the lower end of the social spectrum... His first print series from this period, Various Subjects drawn from Life on Stone, depicts horses or equine related-activities, indicating the animal to be a staple of English life. Entrance to the Adelphi Wharf, one of the twelve prints within the series, features cart horses being led by a farrier through the rear brick arch that gave access to the wharves which lay behind one of the most elegant new buildings in contemporary London. Such images of horses at work catered to a sophisticated market and to the taste of collectors, their praise leading Géricault to constantly circulate these prints after his return from London.
Signed in stone lower left: Gericault
Printed beneath image lower left: T. Gericault del. Printed beneath image lower right: C. Hullmandel's Lithography. Printed beneath image in center: ENTRANCE TO THE ADELPHI WHARF./ London. Published by Rodwell & Martin New Bond Street. May 1821. Inscribed in graphite on verso lower right: 020192
George Corbin Harwell and Kathleen Leigh Williams Harwell Fund and The Virginia Museum Art Purchase Fund
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The National Sporting Library & Museum, May 6 - July 31, 2016
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", University of Richmond, March 3 - April 25, 2016
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", University of Richmond, March 3 - April 25, 2016
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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