Musée du Louvre. Until 2 january 2006.
Forgotten from great history of painting, Anne-Louis Girodet is now in
the spotlight by this exposure of the Louvre which is devoted to him
this autumn. Master of a fantastic neoclassicism in the follow of
prestigious David (of which it will attend the workshop), he will add
to the traditional vision a romantic powder of phantasmagoria nearer to
the fairy tales than of the splendid allegories of his predecessor.
Châteaubriand and Balzac recognized him very early, seeing in the
young artist a precursor corresponding to their romantic enthusiasm.
Its portraits have a remarkable strength, its deputy of Santo Domingo
is a black man. The American forests, the Indians, a certain idea of
orientalism houses its paintbrush and suggest a world of escape in
agreement with the first accounts from voyage from the romantic nomads.
A French painter to rediscover for his single poetry.
