The Survivor Georges Moreau De Tours 1874 Student Of Cabanel Follower Of Gericault Portrait Of A Naked Man

The survivor
Oil on canvas 33 x 24 cm
Signed Moreau de Tours
dated 1874
In a 19th century style gilded frame interchangeable with a 17th century style black frame (to choose)
Condition: age cracks, minor old accident, good overall condition.

This painting dated 1874, continues the tradition of 19th century French Romanticism, with its dramatic treatment, its contrasting lighting and its emphasis on the power of nature in the face of human vulnerability. The theme of the solitary castaway recalls the works of Théodore Géricault (notably The Raft of the Medusa, 1818-1819) and other Romantic artists fascinated by the sublime of the tragic.
Georges Moreau de Tours (1848-1901) was trained in the academic tradition and influenced by several great masters of the 19th century. He was a student of Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1889), himself from classicism and influenced by Ingres, who transmitted to Moreau de Tours a rigorous approach to drawing and a mastery of balanced compositions. Moreau de Tours was also influenced by historical romanticism, notably by Eugène Delacroix and Théodore Géricault, who marked him with their dramatic and expressive scenes. His taste for heroic, tragic and narrative subjects also brings him closer to painters such as Paul Delaroche. The works of Georges Moreau de Tours are today preserved in many museums in France, notably at the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, that of Montpellier and other French museums. His work is characteristic of academic painting of the late 19th century, with great attention to detail, theatrical staging and a concern for historical realism. He is one of those artists who, although recognized in their time, are today less famous than the major figures of Romanticism or Impressionism, but who have left a strong mark on French historical painting.