Wagoner Climbing a Hill
Medium
Lithograph; third state of five
Dimensions
sheet: 10 7/8 x 15 3/16 in. (27.7 x 38.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.496
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1823, *Wagoner Climbing a Hill* captures a moment of quiet struggle as a man and his horses navigate a steep, snow-covered slope. Théodore Gericault, a leading figure of French Romanticism, collaborated with pioneering lithographer Godefroy Engelmann to produce this print. The work belongs to the third state of five, reflecting the careful refinement typical of early lithographic editions. Lithography was still a relatively new medium at the time, valued for its ability to convey spontaneous, sketch-like qualities while allowing wider distribution of an artist’s work. Here, Gericau...
About the Artist
Théodore Gericault|Godefroy Engelmann · 1791–1824
Théodore Géricault, born Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault on September 26, 1791, in Rouen, France, into a prosperous family—his father a lawyer turned tobacco merchant and his mother from a line of growers—moved to Paris around 1797. Displaying early artistic promise, recognized by painter Jean-Louis Laneuville, he began formal training in 1808 under Carle Vernet, mastering English sporting art...