Artwork Page for Fighting Horses

Details / Information for Fighting Horses

Fighting Horses

c. 1820

Théodore Géricault

(French, 1791–1824)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
watercolor over graphite
Support
Ivory wove paper
Measurements
Sheet: 21.7 x 29.4 cm (8 9/16 x 11 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Charles W. Harkness Endowment Fund 1929.13
Catalogue raisonné
Bazin 1657
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

Théodore Géricault began this work with sketches from life, which became a graphite underdrawing beneath the watercolors.

Description

Théodore Géricault turned away from traditional subjects such as mythology and the Bible in favor of modernity, emotion, and drama. He was fascinated by the power and physical beauty of horses and depicted them often. Géricault himself was an avid rider and his paintings and drawings on this theme are characterized by vigor and movement. In this watercolor, he focused on a conflict, in which a groom struggles to separate a pair of fighting horses—a scene that appeared only a few times throughout his many interpretations of similar subjects. A sketchbook, now in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, shows that the artist carefully studied the animals, including the kicking white stallion at center, in graphite before beginning this finished work.
A horizontally oriented watercolor and graphite drawing depicts a chaotic scene of horses. To our left, a dark brown horse stands with its back turned toward a central white horse with braced legs. On our right, a black horse lunges low near a fallen bucket. Behind a fence, a person with a medium skin tone raises a long whip. Muted brown and gray washes are applied over sketchy graphite lines throughout.

Fighting Horses

c. 1820

Théodore Géricault

(French, 1791–1824)
France, 19th century

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