Boy Giving Oats to an Unhitched Horse
Artist: Théodore Géricault (French, 1791-1824)
Date: 1823
Dimensions:
17 13/16 × 14 3/16 in. (45.2 × 36.1 cm)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: The 2019 TMA Board of Directors recognizes this work in honor of Director Brian Kennedy and his efforts to both develop strengths and expand directions in the permanent collection. Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey and Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 2019.21
Label Text:A giant of 19th-century French painting, Théodore Géricault is commonly regarded as one of the founders of French Romanticism along with Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863). This intimately scaled painting features one of Géricault’s favorite subjects, the horse, which for him was a symbol of vital strength. Here he highlights the emotional bond between the noble animal and the young workhand, who gently raises the feedbag to allow the horse to get to the last of the oats at the bottom.
Painted towards the end of Géricault’s tragically short life (he died in January 1824 from complications associated with multiple horse-riding accidents), Boy Giving Oats to an Unhitched Horse showcases Géricault’s exemplary talent through the pictorial cropping and strong diagonal of the composition, the boy’s precarious and momentary stance, the dramatic lighting and ominous sky, and the masterful application of paint.
Painted towards the end of Géricault’s tragically short life (he died in January 1824 from complications associated with multiple horse-riding accidents), Boy Giving Oats to an Unhitched Horse showcases Géricault’s exemplary talent through the pictorial cropping and strong diagonal of the composition, the boy’s precarious and momentary stance, the dramatic lighting and ominous sky, and the masterful application of paint.
On view