Het paard van de stukadoor

Het paard van de stukadoor (The Plasterer’s Horse) is a significant print created by French Romantic master Théodore Géricault in 1822. Executed on paper, this work exemplifies the artist's profound interest in the power and anatomy of the horse, a recurring motif throughout his short, influential career. Produced near the end of his life, this piece reflects the high quality of prints being created in Paris during the early 1820s, a period when artists actively embraced new reproductive techniques like lithography to circulate their compositions.

Unlike Géricault's grand, historical compositions, this work focuses on a mundane yet powerful subject: the working horse. The animal is rendered with dynamic energy and close observation, characteristics typical of Géricault's approach to realism, which elevates the status of everyday life and common animals. The mastery of line and shadow demonstrated in the rendering of the equine form highlights why Géricault is considered one of the era’s most gifted draftsmen and a major contributor to the refinement of artistic prints.

The detailed study of the equine form in this work confirms Géricault's status as a foundational figure in Romantic art. The print, titled Het paard van de stukadoor, is maintained in the distinguished collection of the Rijksmuseum, contributing to their comprehensive holdings of 19th-century graphic arts. As an important historical document and a classic example of early Romantic prints, the artwork is widely studied, and high-resolution reproductions are frequently made available in the public domain for research and educational purposes.