Mounted Trumpeters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard

Provenance

Édouard Napoléon César Edmond Mortier, duc de Trévise [1883-1946], by 1937;[1] (sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 19 May 1938, no 25, bought in); given to his relative, probably Jean, Comte Budes de Guébriant [b. 1911], Buenos Aires;[2] sold to Francisco Gowland Llobet, Buenos Aires; on consignment 1971 to (Galerie Schmit, Paris); purchased 19 July 1972 by NGA. [1] The painting had its first public exhibition as no. 30 of the Gericault exhibition held at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris in 1937. It was at that time owned by the duc de Trévise. The fact that it had not figured in any of the previous exhibitions to which de Trévise had lent works by Gericault from his collection, notably the _Exposition d'oeuvres de Géricault_ held in 1924 at the Hôtel Jean Charpentier of which he had been the chief organizer, suggests that he acquired _Trumpeters_ sometime between 1924 and 1937. Its earlier history is not known. [2] According to a letter dated 6 July 1972 from Robert Schmidt of the Galerie Schmidt, the duc de Trévise gave the painting to "his relative" the Comte de Guébriant. In 1904, the duc's sister married Vicomte Hervé Budes de Gurbriant, with whom she had one daughter and two sons, Jean and Alain. Of the three Comtes (Comte is used as a courtesy title instead of Vicomte) extant between 1937 and 1972, Jean was the only one with a Buenos Aires address.

Mounted Trumpeters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard

Gericault, Théodore

1813/1814

Accession Number

1972.25.1

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 60.4 x 49.6 cm (23 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.) | framed: 76.8 x 66 cm (30 1/4 x 26 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

National Gallery of Art

Washington, D.C., United States

Credit Line

Chester Dale Fund