59 Sailboat on the Sea
Watercolor, brown wash, white gouache, and black
chalk on tan paper; H: 15.3 cm (6 in.); W: 24.7 cm (9^3 / 4
in.)
86.GG.Ó7 9
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS! None.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Paris (sale, Hôtel
Drouot, Paris, May 4, 1984, lot 129); art market,
London.
EXHIBITIONS: Master Drawings by Gericault, Pierpont
Morgan Library, New York, San Diego Museum of Art,
and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, June 1985 -January
1986 , no. 64 (catalogue by P. Grunchec); Gericault, Grand
Palais, Paris, October I99i-January 1992, no. 162 (cat-
alogue entry by S. Laveissière).BIBLIOGRAPHY: L. Eitner, "Review of Master Drawings
by Gericault," Burlington Magazine 128, no. 994 (January
1986), p. 56; H. Lüthy, "Review of Master Drawings by
Gericault," Master Drawings 23-24, no. 4 (Winter 1986),
p. 566.
THIS DRAWING WAS FIRST PUBLISHED BY GRUNCHEC
(1985-86), who related its technique to two studies of
the sky in the Musée Bonnat, Bayonne (inv. NI 8oo, Soi),
which Gericault made at Le Havre during the period
when he was painting the Raft of the Medusa of 1819
(Louvre). Although similar in manner of execution, me-
dium, and dramatic tenor, the Museum's study differs in
its presentation of a variant possibility for the entire com-
position. It was suggested by Grunchec that the ship in
the foreground may be the Medusa, with another ship
shown disappearing into the distance. He also noted a
similarity between the scene and a print by A. Cham-
pion, but the two do not have more than a general resem-
blance to one another. It is more likely that Gericault
made this study as a result of the inspiration he derived
from visiting the sea at Le Havre in the midst of consid-
ering various options for the final composition.148 FRENCH SCHOOL • GERICAULT