Théodore GÉRICAULT - Lot 80

Théodore GÉRICAULT (Rouen 1791 - Paris 1824) Three horses in a stable Canvas 14.5 x 22 cm Inscription on reverse Géricault / Coll. Gral de Brack Red wax stamp on reverse Provenance : General de Brack Collection in 1823 with its counterpart ; Collection Dubaut. Exhibitions: Probably Géricault, Paris, Galerie Charpentier, 1924, no. 340; Géricault, Winterthur, Kunstmuseum, 1953, no. 44; Géricault, Paris, Galerie Claude Aubry, 1964, no. 12. Bibliography: Ch. Blanc, Histoire des peintres français au XIXe siècle, Tome I, Paris, 1845, p.443 ; Ph. Grunchec, Tout l'œuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1978, no. 238, reproduced; L. Eitner, "The Literature of Art", Burlington Magazine, March 1980, p. 209; G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault, étude critique, documents et catalog raisonné, , tome VII, Paris, 1997, pp. 46, 48 and n°2557, reproduced. Germain Bazin places our painting in the artist's last period in 1823, after his stay in London, when his health deteriorated following several falls from a horse (see G. Bazin, opus cité supra, pp. 46 - 48). His technique simplified, emphasizing vivid colors and immaculate whites to highlight the play of light. The type of horses is similar to the models and treatment in Géricault's later works. Géricault parted with this sketch in 1823, when, dying and burdened with debt, he decided to sell some paintings on the advice of his friends, Colonel Bro and M. Dedreux Dorcy. Louis Bro sold his friend Antoine Fortuné de Brack four paintings by Géricault: a study of a dog, La forge and our sketch with its counterpart (G. Bazin, opus cité supra, tome I, doc. 237 and 239). The paintings remained in the de Brack family for a long time. Antoine de Brack began his military career in 1807 with the 7th Hussars, where he met Louis Bro, then a captain. He took part in the Prussian, Polish, German and Russian campaigns, serving as a hussar officer and as aide-de-camp to General Colbert. He was awarded the Légion d'honneur for his conduct on the Wagram battlefield. His treatise Avant-postes de cavalerie légère (Light cavalry outposts) has been reprinted many times since 1831, and remained a reference for officers of this arm until the Second World War. The painting had a counterpart currently in a private collection, which is also a sketch of three horses in a stable (see G. Bazin, opus cited above, tome VII, n°2556, reproduced).