Théodore Géricault

Charles Clément (as of 1867)
Private collection (and sold, Palais Galiera, Paris, December 5, 1964, lot 18, illustrated)
Private collection (acquired from the above)

Charles Clément, "Catalogue de l'oeuvre de Géricault: peintures," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 1e pér., XXIII, September 1867, p. 284, no. 88
Charles Clément, Géricault, étude biographique et critique avec le catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre du maître, Paris, 1879, p. 299, no. 94
George Oprescu, Géricault, Paris, 1927, p. 80
Lorenz Eitner, "Two Rediscovered Landscapes by Géricault and the Chronology of His Early Work," Art Bulletin, vol. XXXVI, June 1954, p. 138, note 31
Jacques Thuiller and Philippe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1978, pp. 136-7, no. A 86, illustrated p. 138Lorenz Eitner, "The Literature of Art: Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault by J. Thuiller and P. Grunchec," Burlington Magazine, vol. CXXII, no. 924, March 1980, p. 209
Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault: étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1987, vol. II, no. 476, pp. 316, 486-8, illustrated
Jacques Thuiller and Philippe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault (revised edition), Paris, 1991, pp. 136-8, no. A 86, illustrated

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work on canvas has an old lining. The paint layer is still well textured. Although the work is quite presentable, it seems to show an uneven layer of old varnish, which could be, and possibly should be, removed. Under ultraviolet light, a few retouches are faintly visible here and there, particularly in the lower right corner. However, this is not necessarily a deterrent to cleaning the picture. There will be some thinness if it is cleaned, but the work will become brighter and more defined. There is one area on the right side of the upper edge that shows darkly under ultraviolet light; this may be a cleaning test or a small repair.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

The first known owner of Épisode de la guerre des Titans was nineteenth-century Géricault scholar and the compiler of the first and perhaps most authoritative catalogue raisonné of the artist’s works, Charles Clément. Like the artist, Clément was a native of Rouen and he maintained strong connections with Géricault’s heirs, the Dedreux-Dorcy family. 

Upon recent examination, Philippe Grunchec maintains the assertion he expressed in 1978, questioning the attribution of this work to Géricault. Lorenz Eitner disputes his position and, in Burlington Magazine in 1984, writes that " [Épisode de la] Guerre des Titans (Clément, no. 94) [is] virtually the only extant painting of a classical subject that can be attributed to Géricault. M. Grunchec supposes that Clément, who owned this study, erroneously attributed it to Géricault because it reminded him of thematically similar drawings to which, M. Grunchec finds, the picture is not actually related. But this is not so. Clément makes no mention of drawings, but quite rightly stresses the picture's high quality as a 'pochade d'une grande invention et d'un ton superbe'."

Germain Bazin dates the work to 1816-1818, the artist’s formative period, based on the loose modelling and undefined musculature of this otherwise powerful subject.