A nude man mourning the death of another (recto); and figure studies (verso)

Details

JEAN-LOUIS-ANDRÉ-THÉODORE GERICAULT (ROUEN 1791-1824 PARIS)
A nude man mourning the death of another (recto); and figure studies (verso)
pen and brown ink (recto); graphite on light brown paper (verso)
18.6 x 23.9 cm (7 3⁄8 x 9 1⁄2 in.)

Provenance

Possibly Alexandre-Marie Colin (1798-1875), Paris.
Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803-1902), London.
with Christopher Powney, London (Early drawings, 1968, no. 33).
with Claude Aubry, Paris.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, New York, 26 January 2011, lot 681.
Anonymous sale; Christie’s, New York, 24 January 2017, lot 110.

Literature

L. Eitner, Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa, London, 1972, p.157, no. 44, ill. (recto).
G. Bazin, Théodore Géricault. Étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, II, L’Œuvre. Période de formation, Paris, 1987, no. 169, ill. (verso); VI, Génie et folie. Le Radeau de la Méduse et les monomanes, Paris, 1994, no. 2003, ill. (recto).

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice. Christie’s has a direct financial interest in this lot. Christie’s has guaranteed to the seller that whatever the outcome of the auction, the seller will receive a minimum sale price for the work. This is known as a minimum price guarantee.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The recto is one of numerous studies for the famous painting in the Louvre, The Raft of the Medusa, completed in 1819 (inv. 4884). It shows a father holding his dead son in the foreground of the raft to the left of the painting (for other studies of this duo, see G. Bazin, Théodore Gericault. Etude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1994, VI, nos. 1996-2010). The verso, in graphite, shows a female nude. The painter Alexandre-Marie Colin (1798-1875) made a tracing of the recto (Private collection; G. Bazin, op. cit., 1994, no. 170).

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