The monomanies series by Géricault  

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Portrait of a Kleptomaniac (1822) by  Théodore Géricault
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Portrait of a Kleptomaniac (1822) by Théodore Géricault

"The monomanies series by Géricault were discovered in Baden-Baden by Louis Viardot in 1863. In a letter to the art critic Charles Blanc dated 6 December 1863, Viardot described the five paintings."--Sholem Stein

The monomanies series by Géricault (1821-24) by  Théodore Géricault. From left to right: Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy, A Kleptomaniac, Military Obsessive, Monomaniac of Gambling and Monomania of Child Kidnapping
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The monomanies series by Géricault (1821-24) by Théodore Géricault. From left to right: Portrait of a Woman Suffering from Obsessive Envy, A Kleptomaniac, Military Obsessive, Monomaniac of Gambling and Monomania of Child Kidnapping

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The Monomaniacs (French: monomanies or cinq études d'aliénés) is a series of five oil portraits by French painter Théodore Géricault (1791 – 1824) produced between 1821 and 1824. They are said to depict five patients of Étienne-Jean Georget, head physician at the Parisian Salpêtrière psychiatric ward. Again according to legend, the paintings were commissioned by Georget so that his students could study the physical traits of mentally ill "monomaniacs", in a sort of scientific realism that parallels literary realism.

According to Charles Clément, the ten paintings were executed between 1821 and 1824. The five portraits of mental illness consist of three men and two women. The patients are busts depicted frontally wearing their own clothes. Géricault painted them on an even backdrop without accessories nor theatrical expressions or gestures. He saw the patients as individuals and as such he portrayed them. The portraits do not show immediately that they are mentally ill. The titles, however, make it clear.

The surviving paintings are:

Contents

Discovery

The paintings were discovered in Baden-Baden by Louis Viardot in 1863. In a letter to the art critic Charles Blanc dated 6 December 1863, Viardot described the five paintings. They were offered to the Louvre in 1866 but rejected. They were bought by the landscape painter Charles Jacque. In 1878 the collection was sold again and dispersed.

French description by Charles Clément

From Géricault. Étude biographique et critique avec le catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre du maître (1868):

Cinq études d'aliénés. Elles font partie de dix peintures que Géricault fit de 1821 à 1824, après son retour d'Angleterre, pour son ami le docteur Georget. médecin en chef de la Salpètrière. Le docteur Georget mourut très-peu de temps après Géricault. A sa vente, cinq de ces études furent achetées par le docteur Maréchal, qui les emporta en Bretagne où elles sont sans doute encore; les cinq autres que nous décrivons devinrent la propriété du docteur Lachèze. Ce sont des portraits en buste — trois hommes et deux femmes — reproduisant différents types d'aliénés.

  • 155. a). Monomanie du commandement militaire.
    • Homme coiffé d'un bonnet de police, avec une médaille de commissionnaire pendue sur la poitrine portant le n° 121. Il est en manches de chemise, avec une draperie grise sur l'épaule. Traits réguliers, expression d'énergie.
    • H., 80. — L., 65 cent.
  • 156. b). Monomanie du vol des enfants.
    • Homme avec un vêtement gris; sur la tête une sorte de toque de même couleur ; le front arrondi ; l'œil doux et caressant.
    • H., 65. — L., 54 cent.
  • 157. c). Monomanie du vol.
    • Homme vêtu d'un habit vert; tête intelligente avec une expression d'audace et de perversité.
    • H., 60. — L., 50 cent.
  • 158. d). Monomanie du jeu.
    • Vieille femme à l'air absorbé et stupide. Elle est coiffée d'un mouchoir blanc et tient une béquille.
    • H., 77. — L., 64 cent.
  • 189. e). Monomanie de l'envie.
    • On nommait cette femme la Hyène. Elle est coiffée d'un bonnet dont le fond est de couleur avec de grandes barbes blanches. Visage convulsif, affreux ; yeux injectés.
    • H., 72. — L., 58 cent.

Bibliography

See also




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