GÉRICAULT Théodore (1791-1824) Attribué à

Lot 11
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Estimation :
4000 - 6000 EUR
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Result : 7 150EUR
GÉRICAULT Théodore (1791-1824) Attribué à
Narcissus reflecting in the water, also known as Chloe's bath. Oil on paper mounted on canvas. 20 x 16.1 cm. About 1811-1812. On the back, on the stretcher, red wax stamp of the Pierre Dubaut collection, and old annotation in ink, on the border paper: "Géricault / "Narcisse se mirant" (esquisse de jeu[nesse])". The work will be included in the Catalogue raisonné of Théodore Géricault's paintings, currently being prepared by M. Bruno Chenique, whose study we are taking up here. This marvelous little painting probably dates from Géricault's formative years with Pierre Guérin, his second teacher, between 1810 and 1812.1 Several of Géricault's drawings from the years 1810-1817 attest to the young artist's interest in these bodies from fables, such as Venus and Adonis (coll. part.) or the Study of a Woman Dressed in Antique Clothing, Sitting on a Rock and Leaning against a Tree (Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts). Géricault continued to cherish this motif of the naked woman in a landscape, camped under a tree, in an extraordinary series of drawings made during his stay in Italy (1816-1817), including Femme nue de profil, au lavis de brun et d'indigo (Rouen, Musée des Beaux-Arts), Femme nue au bain (coll. part.), Léda et le cygne (Louvre), Satyre et Nymphe (Princeton, The Art Museum). While the softness and somewhat hermaphroditic canons of this Narcissus reflecting in the water evoke subjects treated by Guérin at the same time, the treatment of the subject matter belongs to Géricault, while recalling the productions of Guérin, Girodet and Prud'hon; the barely sketched treatment of the face and hands belongs to Géricault alone. If the subject seems classical, its treatment, on the other hand, is eminently romantic, as is its very tight framing, in the manner of the small paintings by Granet, whom Géricault admired. But is the model represented really Narcissus? Is it not rather a very young woman? Doubt is allowed, and the ambiguity probably voluntary. Could this white body and blond hair not be those of Chloe? We know that Géricault had in his library a copy of the Amours pastorales de Daphnis et Chloé, the famous novel by Longus... Scientific examinations by Lumière Technology in June 2009. Multispectral photographic examination with 240 million pixels: D65 colors, grazing light; Ultraviolet Reflectography; False Color Reflectography; Reverse False Color Reflectography; Infrared Reflectography 900 nm & 1000 nm, Infrared Emission, X-Ray Radiography. - Cleaned by Mrs. Anne-Elizabeth Rouault in 2009. Provenance : - Pierre-Olivier DUBAUT (1886-1968). - Maxime DUBAUT (1920-1991). - Sale Artcurial Deauville 22 August 2009 (expert Bruno Chenique)
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