Girodet: Romantic Rebel
February 11-April 30, 2006
Regenstein Hall

Overview: Girodet: Romantic Rebel, the first retrospective in the United States devoted to gifted French painter Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson (1767–1824), assembles more than 100 seminal works (about 60 paintings and 40 drawings), demonstrating the artist’s impressive range--from mythological subjects to portraits and representations of Napoleon’s military triumphs. Profoundly shaped by the dramatic social and political upheaval brought about by the French Revolution, Girodet early on veered away from the rigid Neoclassical style then prevalent in France, interpreting his subjects in an evocative and dreamlike manner, often adding a strange, erotic charge. Increasingly he explored themes of a more Romantic nature, taking up subjects that involved irrational emotions and the exotic, as in his pictures representing the biblical deluge, the legends of Ossian (a fanciful Nordic mythology contrived by a contemporary writer), and the tragic story of the American Indian woman Atala, based on the eponymous novel by the artist’s friend, the writer Chateaubriand. Girodet’s lesser-known but immense talents as a draftsperson will be featured as well, including a selection of his preparatory drawings for paintings and highly finished sheets for book illustrations, such as Virgil’s Aeneid and Racine’s Phaedre. All of these subjects are highlighted in the exhibition, together with some of the artist’s oriental fantasies, including several drawn and painted studies for the spectacular Revolt of Cairo, a depiction of a mameluke rebellion in Cairo during Napoleon’s 1798 Egyptian campaign.

Catalogue: The exhibition will be accompanied by a scholarly catalogue that includes several essays by leading authorities and catalogue entries on each work. The publisher of the catalogue is Gallimard.

Special: Dine with us at the Garden Restaurant, which features a tasting menu inspired by the exhibition.

Organizers: This exhibition was initiated by the Cleveland Museum of Art and organized by the Musée du Louvre and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in cooperation with the Musée du Girodet, Montargis.

Curators: This exhibition is organized by Sylvain Bellenger, chief curator of the National Patrimony, the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, Paris. Curators for the Chicago presentation of the exhibition are Douglas W. Druick, Prince Trust Curator of Prints and Drawings and Searle Curator of European Painting; Larry Feinberg, Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Curator of European Painting; and Jay A. Clarke, associate curator of prints and drawings.

Other Venues: Girodet: Romatic Rebel is at the Musée du Louvre and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris, September 19, 2005-January 2, 2006. After the Art Institute showing, the exhibition will travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 22-August 27, 2006, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, October 12, 2006-January 21, 2007.

Sponsors: This exhibition is made possible by the Old Masters Society of the Art Institute of Chicago and through generous contributions from Marilynn Alsdorf; Lynda, Scott, Jonathan, and Lindsey Canel; Alexandra and John Nichols; and Shirley W. and Patrick G. Ryan. Additional support has been provided by The Rhoades Foundation/Julius Lewis Exhibition Fund.

The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Isaacson Draper Foundation and The Florence Gould Foundation. Additional support for the catalogue has been provided by the Getty Research Institute and the Getty Grant Program.