Théodore Géricault

Collection of Colonel Louis Bro, later Bro de Comères (1781-1844)
Collecion of Louis d'Orléans, duc de Nemours (1814-1896) (before 1850)
André Joubin, Paris (by 1937)
Private Collection, Bordeaux
Galerie Colnaghi, London (in 1995)
Galerie Artemis Fine Arts, CG Boerner, Paris (in 2004)
Sale: Sotheby's, New York, October 24 & 26, 2006, lot 49, illustrated
Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York (acquired at the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Paris, Bernheim-Jeune et Cie., Exposition Géricault, peintre et dessinateur (1791-1824), May 10-29, 1937, no. 74 (lent by André Joubin)

Édouard, duc de Trévise, "A propos du centenaire de Théodore Géricault. Géricault, peintre d'actualités," Revue de l'art ancien et moderne, vol. XLV, January- May 1924, p. 298 (the lithograph of the present work cited)
Édouard, duc de Trévise, "Théodore Géricault," The Arts, vol. XII, no. 4, October 1927, p. 192 (the lithograph of the present work cited)
Phillipe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1978, p. 125, no. 252, illustrated (and in revised 1991 edition, no. 252, illustrated)
Philippe Grunchec, Tout l'oeuvre peint de Géricault, Paris, 1991 (revised and supplemented from the 1878 edition), p. 124, no. 252, p. 126, illustrated 
Phillipe Grunchec, Géricault, exh. cat., Villa Medici, Rome, 1979, no. 160, illustrated fig. 1A 
Germain Bazin, Théodore Géricault, étude critique, documents et catalogue raisonné, Paris, 1997, vol  VII, p. 213, no. 2523, illustated (as by Eugène Lami); discussed p, 42, 49

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This picture is painted on paper which has been lined onto canvas. The paper is stable and the lining is healthy. The paint layer is clean. There are a few spots of retouch in the upper left in the background and a spot or two in the lower part of the woman's white dress. The frame is over powering and the varnish is very shiny, but the condition of the work itself is very good.
"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."

This present painting illustrates the final moments of Byron's tragic Bride of Abidos.  Zuleika is the heroine and headstrong daughter of the elderly Pasha Giaffir, who wishes her to marry an aging Bey.  Desperate to escape this fate, Zuleika flees with Selim, the man she loves, to a cave by the sea.  Géricault leaves the cave mysterious and shrouded in darkness, aside from the menacing swords and pistols Selim has hidden there, here shown at upper right.  In the cave, the hero tells his bride his awful secret: that he is the leader of a band of pirates, who are within hailing distance offshore.  As Giaffir's armed men approach in pursuit of the young lovers, Selim fires his pistol to summon his swarthy comrades.  Tragically, he is shot dead by Giaffir before the star-crossed lovers can be saved, and Zuleika dies of grief.

Géricault painted four versions of this dramatic subject.  The reference to "Le Gidour" on the old label, seems to confuse the subject of the present oil work with that of Le Giaour, another Byronic theme treated by the artist.  A lithograph (with this image in reverse) was made by Eugène Lami, and is dated 1823.