Théodore Géricault from Private Collections

17 . A Dappled Grey Horse Led by a Groom

c. 1820 – 21 Sepia wash over graphite on paper 5 1 ⁄ 16 x 6 5 ⁄ 16 inches ( 13 x 16 cm) Inscribed lower right (cropped): Gér

provenance Duc de Montpensier; Collection Peter Nathan.

exhi b i t ions Jegenstorf, Schloss Jegenstorf, Rendez-vous à cheval: Pferde und Reiter um 1800 , June 6 – October 18 , 1970 , no. 79 ; Grunchec 1985 , no. 96 .

l i terature Grunchec 1982 , p. 152 – 153 (illus.); Bazin, vol. VII, no. 2310 .

Art Cuéllar-Nathan

During his stay in England, Géricault, an expert rider himself, had many opportunities to enjoy and study elegant horses that were bred and groomed for sport, such as the beautiful dappled grey thoroughbred of this sepia drawing. He lodged with a horse- dealer named Adam Elmore, who had a stable in Hyde Park and a clientele of well-to-do sportsmen. It may have been in Elmore’s company that Géricault attended the Epsom Downs Derby of 1821 , the subject of his most important painting of the English period, now in the Musée du Louvre (fig. 18 ). A study for the figure of the horse and groom of the present sheet (private collection, Bazin VII, 2309 ) further documents Gériault’s planning and execution of this particular work. The horse’s environment is well-developed, and the details of the groom’s clothing, gestures and facial features, along with the barrier and different buildings, provide an effective frame for the animal’s impressive anatomy and graceful stature. (AK)

Fig. 18 Epsom Downs Derby , 1821 , Musée du Louvre