1836 Victor Darroux – Géricault
Géricault Life
In my abridged translation of Victor Darroux’s entry on Théodore Géricault for the 1836 edition of the Dictionnaire de la Conversation et de la Lecture. Tome XXX. Paris Belin-Mandar, Libraire 1836. pp. 193-195, I omit Darroux’s analysis of the Raft of the Medusa, which we will consider when we discuss reactions to Géricault’s masterpiece in later issues. My concern here is with Darroux’s discussion of Géricault’s mental health, and Pierre de Dreux D’Orcy role in the composition of Darroux’s short essay on Géricault, which was presented to the public 12 years after Géricault’s death in 1824.
“GÉRICAULT (Jean-Louis-Théodore-André), painter, born in Rouen towards 1792, died in 1826, was the son of a former advocate. It is with great difficulty that we assembled materials on this great artist, our contemporary. Our surprise disappears, however, when we learn that while he lived Géricault was always regarded as a mediocre artist. He began his studies at college in Rouen, but left early, unable to learn much. There are some independent souls who cannot accustom themselves to the rules of the masses. Géricault was one of these. He accomplished little in the studio of Carle Vernet, where he first began to study painting. He then entered the studio of Guérin, who was really his only teacher, where he was regarded by his comrades as a young man without means or a future. The time arrived when Géricault would put the lie to these dire prognostications. It was in 1812 that he presented a figure on foot worthy of note; the Chasseur; in 1814, he presented a second figure on foot, the Carabinier. Discouraged by his lack of recognition, he hoped for success by another route. Seduced by the prospect of rapid glory, he joined the musketeers; but was again disappointed. He quickly put aside his uniform and took up his brushes once more. In 1815, he worked with a new determination and made a number of studies after the old masters. In 1816, he departed for Italy, where he remained for a year, producing more great studies. It was there his perseverance was rewarded, the temple of arts opens its doors to him. Returning to France, he presented in 1819 a magnificent work, the Shipwreck of the Medusa, which immortalized his name… – With the Raft of the Medusa, the artistic career of Géricault began and ended, this Michelangelo of modern times, as it pleased his students to call him, the first of this group being Delacroix. Géricault then departed for England, but had been there but briefly when he was forced to return owing to a painful sciatica, which afflicted him on the banks of the Thames. Every form of treatment was pursued, and he was very close to recovery when a fall from a horse opened an abscess on his right side which delivered him to his grave after 10 months of suffering. – We must offer the greatest plaudits to colonel Bro, to his wife, and to Mr. Dedreaux D’Orcy, for the indefatigable zeal with which cared for Géricault during the long agony of their friend. After his death, all of his paintings were sold. The Medusa was purchased by Mr. Dedreux D’Orcy for 6,000 fr., and resold to the Museum for the same price. Even insignificant, or unserious, productions commanded the highest prices! Géricault made many studies of horses; he excelled in this genre. One reads of a watercolor of a suprising truth representing a race done in England representing. – I will not conclude without rectifying a false claim regarding Géricault: a most abominable calumny which has unfortunately been widely received. It is asserted that Géricault died as a result of his love for shameful debauches, he whose existence was nothing but an intellectual struggle against the coldness and the indifference of his century. The envy which pursued him did not cease even before his grave. – And when books fail, we must return to men, and it is from Mr. Dedreux D’Orcy that we obtained the details which allowed us to compose this notice. Suum cuique VICTOR DARROUX”
Conclusion
Irrespective of the entry’s strengths and weaknesses, Victor Darroux’s profile of Géricault confirms beyond doubt that Pierre de Dreux D’Orcy was shaping Géricault biographies as early as 1836. D’Orcy, of course, had been a close friend of Géricault’s. The calumny Darroux insists is false and that he must correct is strikingly similar to Alphonse Rabbe’s description of Géricault in livraison form the Biographie universelle et portative des contemporains, ou Dictionnaire historique des hommes célèbres in 1828 and after. (Discussed in our September issue).
Darroux does not name Rabbe, or dwell on Rabbe’s rich description of Géricault’s dissipation and self-destructive habits. Rabbe died late in 1829. Rabbe did not die from his syphillis, but in treating his condition Rabbe may have contributed to his own premature death. Rabbe estimation of Géricault’s demise is intentionally broad, but does suggest that Géricault sought death through reckless behavior. If we are too believe Darroux, Rabbe’s estimation of Géricault took deep root in the public imagination. Indeed, Rabbe’s description of Géricault appeared before the public once more when a new edition of the Biographie Universelle et Portative was published in 1834, and again in 1836, with Rabbe’s claims about Géricault’s weak will and appetite for violent pleasures re-published intact.
Did Darroux, himself, reject Rabbe’s characterization of Géricault prior to meeting D’Orcy? We do not know. What we can state with confidence, however, is that Dreux D’Orcy played an active part in crafting the content, tone, and focus of Darroux’s reformulation of Géricault’s posthumous persona in the Dictionnaire de la Conversation of 1836, a reformulation which explicitly rejected the existing narrative established years earlier by Alphonse Rabbe and re-published in the Biographie Universelle et Portative in 1834 and 1836.