Théodore GÉRICAULT (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824)... Lot 8

Théodore GÉRICAULT (Rouen, 1791 - Paris, 1824) A beggar playing a violin, carrying a child on his shoulders and preceded by a dog 1821 Graphite, pasted on cardboard. 13,2 x 11,5 cm The scene is delimited by a framing net made by the artist himself. Missing in the lower right corner, already visible on a 1924 photograph in the Archives of the Duke of Treviso (Sauvegarde de l'art français, dossier 2E7). Annotation, in brown ink, on a second card included in the mount, recto: "Collection du Duc de Treviso"; verso: "N° 8". Provenance: - Charles Binder Collection (1819-1891). - Perhaps: "Géricault (Th.) / About two hundred sketches. Pen and graphite. (This number will be divided)" (Catalogue des tableaux anciens & modernes, dessins, aquarelles, lithographies et eaux fortes [...] dépendant de la succession de M. Ch. B. [Binder], Chevallier, auctioneer, Féral, expert, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, room n° 3, 9 February 1892, n° 26). - Collection of Edouard, Duke of Treviso (1883-1946), before 1924. - By descent, private collection. The name "Géricault" appears on the mat dating from the 1920s and 1930s. Exhibition: - 1924, Paris: Exhibition of works by Géricault for the benefit of the Société "La Sauvegarde de l'Art Français", under the direction of Édouard, Duc de Trévise, Jean Guiffrey and Pierre Dubaut, Paris, Hôtel Jean Charpentier, 76, Faubourg Saint-Honoré, April 24-May 16, 1924, p. 62, no. 151: "A beggar, carrying a child on his shoulders and preceded by a dog/ First thought of the Piper/ Leaden sketch. Hait. 0m00 ; larg. 0m00/ Collection Binder/ Collection T". Authenticity: - This work will be included in the Catalogue raisonné des dessins inédits et retrouvés de Théodore Géricault, currently being prepared by M. Bruno Chenique. This drawing is undoubtedly one of the earliest ideas for Géricault's famous lithograph, The Piper, published in London on February 1, 1821. Although Germain Bazin was not familiar with it, he points out that there are several preparatory drawings, with variations, for this blind piper walking down a deserted street followed by his little dog.1 Here, it is a probable fiddler, carrying a child (perhaps a little girl), who seems to be following his dog (beautifully stylized). The scene is therefore much less miserable and seems to have been sketched, on the spot, in a London street. 1) Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault. Étude critique, documents et catalog raisonné, t. VII, Regard social et politique: le séjour anglais et les heures de souffrance, documentation Élisabeth Raffy, Paris, Wildenstein Institute & Bibliothèque des arts, 1997, pp. 17, 96-98. Expert : Mr Alexis Bordes