The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 18, 2024
Man Clutching a Horse in Water, after Poussin's "Deluge" (recto); Compositional Study? (possibly for "Poussin's Deluge") (verso)
c. 1816
(French, 1791–1824)
after Nicolas Poussin
(French, 1594–1665)
Sheet: 18 x 26.2 cm (7 1/16 x 10 5/16 in.)
Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.378
Location: not on view
Description
Géricault's drawing of a man clutching the mane of a horse as they struggle together to stay afloat is a direct copy of a detail from one of Nicolas Poussin's (1594-1665) most celebrated paintings, The Deluge, or Winter (see photo). Small in scale but monumental in feeling, the sheet exemplifies the artist's "antique manner" of drawing, which he began to develop around 1815. This style, with its heavy contour lines and broad washes, developed in tandem with Géricault's renewed interest in copying works of art from the past, such as prints after ancient sculpture and works by Raphael (1483-1520), Michelangelo (1475-1564), and Poussin.- Unidentified collector's mark upper left; Coutan Hauguet Schubert Milliet collection (Lugt 464, stamped, lower left, in brown ink); [sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris (16-17 December 1889), 50 no. 194: "Scène de Déluge. Etude d'apres Le Poussin. Dessin à la plume et à la sépia."]; Charmettant (according to Bazin, Charmettant purchased at Coutan-Hauguet sale for 80 francs). Marietta Peabody Tree and Ronald Tree [their sale, Sotheby-Parke-Bernet, New York (8-9 October 1976), no. 197, repr.]; [Shepherd Gallery, New York]; purchased in 1976.
- {{cite web|title=Man Clutching a Horse in Water, after Poussin's "Deluge" (recto); Compositional Study? (possibly for "Poussin's Deluge") (verso)|url=false|author=Théodore Géricault, Nicolas Poussin|year=c. 1816|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2008.378