The Dead Horse (Translation)
Le Cheval Mort (Primary Title)
Quatre [Cinq] Sujets Divers (Series Title)
Théodore Géricault, French, 1791 - 1824 (Artist)
Géricault, a prolific artist in printmaking, sculpture, and painting, died early at the age of thirty-three from injuries he received during a riding accident. Here, he depicts a lone horse lying dead in an unforgiving landscape, a depressing scene that portrays death as an unrelenting sublime state of nature beyond the bounds of human control. Géricault’s weighty subject was likely inspired by 18th- and early 19th-century British sporting prints depicting the life cycle of the horse, which artists such as Thomas Rowlandson and Henry Alken popularized.
Printed beneath image lower left: Chez Mme Hulin, rue de la Paix No. 91. Printed beneath image in center: Lith: de G. Engelmann. Printed beneath image lower right: Géricault. Illegible graphite inscription on verso upper right.
Funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Nelson
"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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