THEODORE GERICAULT
(1791-1924)
Géricault first experimented with lithography in 1817 (having made an etching in the same year, Cheval-Gris Pommelé), at a time when lithography had become somewhat moribund in France through its use for reproductive and historical illustrative work. As an artistic medium it was most notably employed by Nicolas Toussaint Charlet (1792-1845).
Géricault’s early lithographs include Horses fighting in a Stable, in which the artist achieved a richness of tonality that he was later to develop through the use of a ‘tint stone’. This tint stone technique involved the initial printing of a beige stone (with the shadows drawn as solid areas and with the highlights scraped back) that was then over-printed with black to achieve a tremendous sense of warmth and richness that had been lacking in the art of lithography at this time.
The Flemish Farrier was commissioned by the publishers Rodwell and Martin (during Géricault’s sojourn in London) as part of a series of twelve lithographs entitled Various Subjects drawn from Life, now known as The English Series. In this set three of the works were based on farriers, the other two being The English Farrier and A French Farrier. Although not a great commercial success the group confirmed Géricault’s interest in lithography and, on his return to France, he continued to make prints. Gericault was subsequently to make an extensive group of lithographs from 1822, portraying different breeds of horses, entitled Études de Chevaux Lithographiés, published by Gihaut, for whom a later group also included Cheval Devoré par un Lion, 1923.
During the course of his career Géricault made more than seventy lithographs and was to develop the medium into a genuine vehicle for artistic expression, through the richness of surface and tonality exemplified by works such as The Flemish Farrier.
Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .