Jan 24, 2005 - Sale 2030

Sale 2030 - Lot 200

Price Realized: $ 103,500
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 30,000 - $ 50,000
THÉODORE GÉRICAULT
(Rouen 1791-1824 Paris)
Portrait Study of a Young Man.

Oil on paper mounted on paper board, circa 1810-20. 365x295 mm; 141/2x115/8 inches. Ex-collection Ary Scheffer (Lugt supplement 2264a, verso on a label); sold at his sale, Drouot, Paris, March 13-14, 1859, lot 27 (as Tête de jeune garçon), with the auction label on the verso, numbered "27" and inscribed "Etude de Courbet [sic]" in ink; unknown collector, armorial stamp in red wax verso; and private collection, Belgium.

The former owner of this work Scheffer (1795-1858), though Dutch by birth, moved with his family to Paris in 1811. He studied with the Neoclassical painter Pierre Guérin through whom he met Delacroix and Géricault. Influenced by Géricault's work, Scheffer emulated his Romantic vision and, in his celebrated Death of Géricault, painted in 1824, reveals his deep sorrow for the loss of his friend. In his sale at Drouot in 1859, Scheffer had 6 paintings, several large drawings and a sketchbook with some 69 drawings by Géricault, more than any other artist in the sale.

To be included in the forthcoming Géricault catalogue raisonné in preparation by the Wildenstein Institute, Paris, with a written confirmation from the Wildenstein Institute, dated August 29, 2003.