The Development of Gericault's "Heroic Landscape"

Gericault embraced the idea of the “Heroic Landscape,” which was a depiction of an ideal world. Such landscape paintings are not based on reality; in fact, they are inspired by the painter’s own imagination and other artwork, and are meant as a critique of the painter’s imperfect surroundings.

An article in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, titled “Gericault’s Heroic Landscapes: The Times of Day,” explains that Gericault was not influenced by actual scenes in nature for his painting, but rather by works from other artists: “His Times of Day are constructed not from nature studies but from the study of great art. In a purely intellectual manner, he appropriated motifs from the works of other painters and arranged them in compositions that conformed to the contemporary definition of heroic landscape…”

Moreover, the Bulletin claims that Gericault was influence by painters like Vernet, Poussin, Dughet, and Rosa: “Gericault reached back to the dramatic, animated paysages a etpet of Joseph Vernet and to the muscular art of the seventeenth century as exemplified by the works of Poussin, Dughet, and Salvator Rosa. He closed his eyes to nature and dreamed of the grand manner.”

This exhibition explores the influence of these works on Gericault’s heroic landscape, Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct.

Theodore Gericault, Evening: Landscape with an Aqueduct, 1818

Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.183

This painting is full of drama – rather than paintings based on scenes which are directly behind the painter’s easel, this landscape is crafted and designed to have a dramatic mood. The harsh diagonals found along the sides of the mountain and craggy rock surfaces constantly draw the viewer’s eye upward. It is unsettling – the warm peach hues of the sky clash with the thick, inky clouds rolling in from the top right corner. The looming mountain in the background also adds to the emotional atmosphere of the scene.

Joseph Vernet, Harbor Scene with a Grotto and Fishermen Hauling in Nets, late 18^th century

Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 48.187.739

In this painting, Vernet uses lights and darks to create a dramatic mood. The inky corners of the sky are comparable to Gericault’s work, as does the glowing, irradenscent space in center of the painting. The chiseled cliffs off to the side are strikingly similar to the ones in Gericault’s piece – their crevices and surfaces are exaggerated by the use of highlights and shadows, and their looming forms reflect the strong mood.

Nicolas Poussin, Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun, 1658

Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 24.45.1

In this work, Poussin references Greek mythology and neither the theme nor scene is based on reality. In the cluster of thick, clay-like clouds stands the goddess Diana, and beneath her stretches a rolling, arching landscape which is created by the artist to draw the viewer’s eye upward. The mountain rising in the background is especially similar to Gericault’s.

Gaspard Dughet, Imaginary Landscape, 1615 – 1675

Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 08.227.1

Here, much of the subject matter is similar to Gericault’s painting. A body of water lies in the center of the painting with cliffs lining the edges and ascending up toward the sky. The people are not the focus of the painting – rather, they are positioned near the bottom and are much smaller in scale than other aspects of the landscape.

Salvator Rosa, Bandits on a Rocky Coast, 1615 - 1675

Oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 34.137  

The tree and towering rock surface on the right side of this work strongly resemble the left side of Gericault’s landscape. The people, too, are similar to Gericault’s characters. Positioned on a lower plane than the rest of the painting, they are sprawled across a cluster of craggy boulders. Moreover, a stream of water flows unendingly toward the horizon.

Each of these works share striking similarities with Gericault’s Evening. All seem to put much of the attention on the landscape. The trees, rocks, and mountains are grandiose and majestic. In contrast, the people are small, and their colors often seem to make them recede into the actual landscape. Gericault’s clearly studied these works and based his techniques on them. The result: a world of his making.