Works
by French Romantic Painter Displayed in
Girodet:
Romantic Rebel
@Metropolitan
Museum
Drapery
Study for a Deluge
Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (French, 1767–1824)
Crayon, white chalk on paper; 18 13/16
x 22 1/16 in. (47.8 x 56 cm)
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes
Installation dates: Until August 27, 2006
Location: Special Exhibition Galleries,
2nd Floor
Girodet: Romantic Rebel is the first retrospective
in the United States devoted to this celebrated
French artist, Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson,
a favored but rebellious student of Jacques-Louis
David. Girodet's idiosyncratic style fuses David's
Neoclassical ideal with his own prescient
Romantic vision. The exhibition brings together approximately
110 paintings and works on paper that
reflect the artist's originality and the
diversity of his works, from mythological
subjects to portraits and representations
of Napoleon's military triumphs. Girodet
will be on view at The Metropolitan Museum
of Art from May 24 through August 27,
2006.
This exhibition was initiated by the Cleveland Museum of Art and
organized by the musée du Louvre
and the Réunion des musées
nationaux, Paris, in collaboration with
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
the Art Institute of Chicago, and the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, with the
special support of the musée Girodet,
Montargis.
The career of Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (1767-1824) was shaped
by the dramatic social and political changes
brought about by the French Revolution.
The exhibition begins with paintings and drawings from his years
as a student of David in the 1780s.
The strong linear contours and
sculptural modeling of these works demonstrate
the artist's emulation of his master's
Neoclassical model.
Following the outbreak of the Revolution
in 1789, Girodet asserted his artistic
independence in an austere Pietà,
painted for a provincial monastery. His final break with David, however, manifested
itself in a mythological painting, The
Sleep of Endymion (Louvre, Paris), exhibited
to great acclaim at the Paris Salon in
1793.
Burial
of Atala (répétition of
1808 original), 1813
Anne-Louis Girodet-Trioson (French, 1767–1824)
Oil on canvas; 81 5/16 x 104 1/2 in. (206.5
x 265.4 cm)
Musée Girodet, Montargis
Girodet subsequently eschewed the rationalism of the Neoclassical
style in which he was trained in favor
of a more imaginative mode, ranging from
the spectral vision of Ossian Receiving
the Spirits of the French Heroes, commissioned
for Napoleon's retreat at Malmaison, to
the apocalyptic Scene from a Deluge (Louvre,
Paris). This monumental canvas, depicting three generations of a family
balanced precariously over floodwaters,
secured Girodet's ultimate triumph over
David: in 1810 it was named the best history
painting of the decade over David's Intervention
of the Sabine Women (Louvre, Paris).
Girodet, like many of David's students, commemorated Napoleon's
regime in portraits as well as history
paintings. The exhibition will include one of his
paintings of Napoleon in imperial costume
as well as drawings and an oil sketch
related to The Revolt of Cairo (Versailles,
Musée national du château).
In illustrating this episode from
Napoleon's Egyptian campaign, Girodet
gives free reign to the exoticism and
violence of the emerging Romantic fascination
with Orientalism.
The exhibition also features Girodet's portraits of the leading
figures of his time, as well as more intimate
portrayals of his family members.
As Girodet was the most talented
draftsman to emerge from David's studio,
a selection of his works on paper will
also be exhibited.
Exhibition design is by Michael Langley, Exhibition Designer, with
graphic design by Sue Koch, Senior Graphic
Designer, and lighting by Clint Ross Coller
and Richard Lichte, Lighting Designers,
all of the Museum's Design Department.
French
Heroes
Anne-Louis
Girodet-Trioson (French, 1767–1824)
Educational Programs
A variety of educational programs has offered in conjunction with
the exhibition including a Sunday at the
Met in June and five gallery talks over
the course of the exhbition.
The exhibition has featured on the Museum's website (www.metmuseum.org).
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For
More Information: www.metmuseum.org
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