Théodore Géricault on His Deathbed
Charles Emile Callande de Champmartin (French, 1797–1883)
1824
View the original$14
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
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About this work
This haunting image of a dead man swathed in white sheets was thought to have been painted by Théodore Géricault until a cleaning revealed the signature of his friend and follower Charles Emile Champmartin. More recent research has shown that the painting depicts Géricault himself on his deathbed, having succumbed to chronic tubercular infection at the young age of 32. Géricault’s early death and bold artistry, which sought to challenge classical notions of beauty, made him emblematic of the trope of the tragic Romantic artist. Images depicting his passing circulated throughout the 19th century, and talismanic copies of his death mask populated young artists’ studios.
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 45.6 × 55.6 cm (17 15/16 × 21 7/8 in.)
Museum record · 3 owners · 11 exhibitions
Provenance
- Possibly Champmartin Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, January 28-29, 1884, lot 273.
- Possibly Sale, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, January 28, 1888, lot 112.
- Foynard, Paris; sold to Richard Goetz, Paris, by about 1914; sold with sequestered property of Richard Goetz, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, February 23-24, 1922, lot 138, but presumably bought in and retained by Goetz; sold through J. Rosner, Paris, as agent for Richard Goetz, to the Art Institute in November 1937.
Exhibitions
- Paris, Bernheim-Jeune Galerie, Exposition Géricault: Peintre et Dessinateur (1791-1824), May 10-29, 1937.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, Gros, Géricault, Delacroix, December 15, 1938-January 15, 1939, not included in catalogue, traveled to New York, Knoedler and Company, November 21-December 10, 1938; shown in Chicago only.
- Hartford, Conn., The Wadsworth Atheneum, Night Scenes, February 15-March 7, 1940.
- Paris, Musée de L’Orangerie, De David à Toulouse-Lautrec: Chefs d’Oeuvre des Collections Américaines, April 20-July, 1955.
- Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Sublimity and Sensibility: The Genesis of Romanticism, April 30-May 31, 1965.
- London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Berlioz and the Romantic Imagination, October 17-December 14, 1969.
- The Los Angeles County Museum Art, Géricault, October 12 - December 12, 1971, traveled to The Detroit Institute of Arts, January 23-March 7, 1972 and Philadelphia Museum of Art, March 30-May 14, 1972.
- Chapel Hill, NC, The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, French Nineteenth Century Oil Sketches: David to Dégas, March 5-April 16, 1978.
- Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Bilder von Menschen in der Kunst des Abendlandes, July 5-September 28, 1980.
- Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Gericault, October 10, 1991-January 6, 1992, ill. 220.
- Paris, France, Musée d'Orsay, Crime and Punishment, March 15- June 27, 2010.
