Théodore Géricault | "Mazeppa" by Théodore Géricault | An officer of the ''Chasseurs à cheval'' of the Guard by Théodore Géricault |
The drawings collection holds some 200 drawings by Bronzino, Guardi, Claude Lorrain, Le Brun, Oudry, Greuze, Géricault, Friesz.
The museum displays paintings by painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Claude Gellée, Fragonard, Hubert Robert, Greuze and a remarkable collection of 19th-century painting and sculpture: Ingres, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Cézanne, Modigliani, Carpeaux, Maillol, Rodin etc.
His large works from the last few years demonstrate how he has primarily looked to the nineteenth century for references; to the likes of Goya, Géricault, Delacroix, Courbet and Manet (a tradition continued in our century by Picasso, Golub and Richter, with Jeff Wall as the contemporary exponent).
Born in Rouen, France, Géricault was educated in the tradition of English sporting art by Carle Vernet and classical figure composition by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, a rigorous classicist who disapproved of his student's impulsive temperament yet recognized his talent.