The Derby of Epsom
Encyclopedia
The Derby of Epsom, also traditionally named the 1821 Derby at Epsom, is an 1821 painting by Théodore Géricault
.
Fascinated by the horses, Géricault made many paintings portraying them. Working for a while at the imperial stables, he had the opportunity to study in detail and made numerous "portraits" of horses. This work is not related to that series of portraits but it illustrates a similar theme horses, as the artist has done many times, such as in Officer Hunter Horse of the Imperial Guard Charging in 1812 or Race of Free Horses in Rome in 1819.
This work is a rare and valuable example of painting dated from his travel in England, but Géricault preferred to work lithography. He painted this painting for the English horse dealer Adam Elmore. The painting was acquired by the Musée du Louvre in 1866. The position of the horses' legs in the painting - with both front and hind legs extended outwards - is never actually exhibited by a galloping horse. This was discovered by Eadweard Muybridge
in 1878.
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault was a profoundly influential French artist, painter and lithographer, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings...
.
Fascinated by the horses, Géricault made many paintings portraying them. Working for a while at the imperial stables, he had the opportunity to study in detail and made numerous "portraits" of horses. This work is not related to that series of portraits but it illustrates a similar theme horses, as the artist has done many times, such as in Officer Hunter Horse of the Imperial Guard Charging in 1812 or Race of Free Horses in Rome in 1819.
This work is a rare and valuable example of painting dated from his travel in England, but Géricault preferred to work lithography. He painted this painting for the English horse dealer Adam Elmore. The painting was acquired by the Musée du Louvre in 1866. The position of the horses' legs in the painting - with both front and hind legs extended outwards - is never actually exhibited by a galloping horse. This was discovered by Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard J. Muybridge was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible...
in 1878.