The French painter Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), by virtue of his subject matter and style, is generally considered the first true romanticist. In his short career he established the most viable direction for the immediate future of painting.

Théodore Géricault was born in Rouen on Sept. 26, 1791, the son of a lawyer who did not approve of the boy's wish to become a painter. Upon leaving the Lycée Impérial in 1808, Géricault clandestinely entered the studio of the famous painter of horses Carle Vernet. Géricault had a great love for horses and this alone, no doubt, explains his choice of a master, for Vernet's elegant, rather bloodless animals have very little in common with the vigorous creations of his student. Géricault remained in Vernet's studio for 2 years and formed...