Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard
The 10th of August, 1792circa 1795-1799

Not on view

Large preparatory drawing in brown ink and wash over graphite on cream paper, depicting a crowded 18th-century interior with agitated figures at center-left and seated figures at a desk to the right

Artist or Maker: Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard
Italy, Rome, 1770-1837, active France, Paris
Title: The 10th of August, 1792
Place Made: Italy
Date Made: circa 1795-1799
Medium: Oil with graphite on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 42 × 56 3/4 in. (106.68 × 144.15 cm) Framed: 56 1/2 × 71 × 4 in. (143.51 × 180.34 × 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: The Ciechanowiecki Collection, Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.2000.179.36
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: Painter Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gerard used his connection as Jacques-Louis David's understudy to evade conscription in 1793 and avoid proclaiming political allegiances. During a tumultuous period in France, he spent his career aligning himself with the parties in power, serving as the official portrait painter for Napoleon and then working for the reinstated Bourbon monarchs.

Here, Gerard sketched a microcosmic drama depicting the people’s triumph on the 10th of August, a key event in the French Revolution: the people stand powerful, armed with their pointed fingers and aggressive postures, while the king and queen lurk helplessly behind bars. The composition of the work adds to this drama by relegating the royal duo to the background. In a similar spirit, the works of the playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), which gave rise to the fictional character of Figaro, openly criticized aristocratic authority in the years before the Revolution. In works by Beaumarchais, Figaro uses his cunning to quietly manipulate the Count Almaviva, taking a more covert approach than Gerard’s bourgeoisie, who employ vehement disapproval and violence to overthrow Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Provenance: Family of the artist, by descent to; Gramont. Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki (1924–2015), London, by 1973, sold 2000 to; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Marandel, J. Patrice. French oil sketches from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 17th century - 19th century. Los Angeles: The Ahmanson Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2002.
Moulin, Monique. "François Gérard, Peinture du 10 Août 1792." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 101 (May-June 1983):
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Marandel, J. Patrice. French Oil Sketches from an English Collection, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries 1973-1975. Houston, TX: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1975.
Bordes, Philippe, Le serment de Jeu de Paume de Jaques-Louis David. Paris: Editions de la Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1983
Olander, William. "Pour transmettre à la postérité, French Painting and Revolution, 1774-1795." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, 1983.
Wintermute, Alan. ed., 1789: French art during the Revolution. New York : Colnaghi, 1989.
Walch, Peter, , Joanna R. Barnes, J. Patrice Marandel. French Oil Sketches and the Academic Tradition. New York : American Federation of Arts in association with the University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.
Schnapper, Antoine, et al. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) (exh. cat.). Paris: Musée du Louvre and Musée National du Château de Versailles, 1989
Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 2, French Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.

Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard
The 10th of August, 1792circa 1795-1799

Not on view

Artist or Maker: Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gérard
Italy, Rome, 1770-1837, active France, Paris
Title: The 10th of August, 1792
Place Made: Italy
Date Made: circa 1795-1799
Medium: Oil with graphite on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 42 × 56 3/4 in. (106.68 × 144.15 cm) Framed: 56 1/2 × 71 × 4 in. (143.51 × 180.34 × 10.16 cm)
Credit Line: The Ciechanowiecki Collection, Gift of The Ahmanson Foundation
Accession Number: M.2000.179.36
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: Painter Baron François-Pascal-Simon Gerard used his connection as Jacques-Louis David's understudy to evade conscription in 1793 and avoid proclaiming political allegiances. During a tumultuous period in France, he spent his career aligning himself with the parties in power, serving as the official portrait painter for Napoleon and then working for the reinstated Bourbon monarchs.

Here, Gerard sketched a microcosmic drama depicting the people’s triumph on the 10th of August, a key event in the French Revolution: the people stand powerful, armed with their pointed fingers and aggressive postures, while the king and queen lurk helplessly behind bars. The composition of the work adds to this drama by relegating the royal duo to the background. In a similar spirit, the works of the playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), which gave rise to the fictional character of Figaro, openly criticized aristocratic authority in the years before the Revolution. In works by Beaumarchais, Figaro uses his cunning to quietly manipulate the Count Almaviva, taking a more covert approach than Gerard’s bourgeoisie, who employ vehement disapproval and violence to overthrow Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Provenance: Family of the artist, by descent to; Gramont. Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki (1924–2015), London, by 1973, sold 2000 to; LACMA.
Selected Bibliography: Marandel, J. Patrice. French oil sketches from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 17th century - 19th century. Los Angeles: The Ahmanson Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2002.
Moulin, Monique. "François Gérard, Peinture du 10 Août 1792." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 101 (May-June 1983):
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 2003.
Marandel, J. Patrice. French Oil Sketches from an English Collection, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries 1973-1975. Houston, TX: The Museum of Fine Arts, 1975.
Bordes, Philippe, Le serment de Jeu de Paume de Jaques-Louis David. Paris: Editions de la Reunion des Musées Nationaux, 1983
Olander, William. "Pour transmettre à la postérité, French Painting and Revolution, 1774-1795." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, Institute of Fine Arts, 1983.
Wintermute, Alan. ed., 1789: French art during the Revolution. New York : Colnaghi, 1989.
Walch, Peter, , Joanna R. Barnes, J. Patrice Marandel. French Oil Sketches and the Academic Tradition. New York : American Federation of Arts in association with the University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994.
Schnapper, Antoine, et al. Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) (exh. cat.). Paris: Musée du Louvre and Musée National du Château de Versailles, 1989
Lehmbeck, Leah, editor. Gifts of European Art from The Ahmanson Foundation. Vol. 2, French Painting and Sculpture. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019.