The controversy was what made Théodore Géricault the artist that he once was. His artwork shocked and amazed people by giving them a retrospect in his own way.
He was a son of a wealthy family, and that gave him the chance to get very well educated, and chance to meet other artists who seek to let their art go to places that were never even considered going before.
He was also unique with his painting techniques. He focused on an individual part in his paintings, painting it fully before moving to another part, this made the compositions to each have a miniature composition. The Raft of Medusa is a great example of that.
He has often explored subjects like tragedy or death in a new way.
Romanticism, unlike its precursor Neoclassicism, had a different approach to subjects like death. If we look at two of each eras Artist’s and their paintings it can be seen more clearly. Théodore Géricault in his painting “The Raft of Medusa” has shown matters like death and tragedy in his paintings very raw, it shows the dark reality of a historical event to its viewers. Jacques Louis David in his painting ‘’The Death of Socrates’’ approached the subject to show a historic event, took place a very long time ago in a dramatic way. They also separate the techniques in their painting. David’s painting has no sign of a visible brushstroke, the colour use is accurate to the era but on the other hand, we can see the brush strokes in Géricault’s paintings much more clear and the use of colour is about the emotion of the painting. It is used to disturb the viewer.
In his lifetime he had a handful of injuries like falling off a horse or car accident, which helped him to explore the tragedy in his paintings even further. Even when he was in the terrible condition he still wanted to continue his art. He wanted to complete a series about the horrible treatment of black people but he could not due to his sickness getting worse and worse.
As I just mentioned he was a politically involved artist, he was painting about the bad treatment of black people, a historical tragedy that caused nearly a hundred of immigrants to drown in the ocean while the ships crew members survived.
He was an individual artist, he did not work for the king or the church but his own so he could paint whatever he wanted to paint.
His artworks were quickly becoming famous, he was known all across the nation and his artwork had the ability to cause a nationwide awareness. He was a crucial person for the revolution. In a way, he became a prime example for what a modern-day artist’s role in the world should be and he is still a very big part of the Romanticism era.
Théodore Géricault was a romantic artist which led the way for a lot of young artists all around the world, his work still inspires people and raises awareness about the subjects which can be very sensitive. His paintings are bold both in their subject and in their techniques.
