# Two Draft Horses with a Sleeping Driver

**Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault** (French, 1791–1824)  
1820–22  
Brush and brown and gray wash, over graphite  
11 3/4 x 15 1/16 in. (29.9 x 38.2 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996.365. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337192).

## About this work

Two heavy draught horses stand patiently in harness while their driver dozes, set down in brush and brown and grey wash over pencil. Géricault spent much of 1820 and 1821 in England, where he was fascinated by the powerful working horses of London’s streets and made a series of lithographs of everyday English life. This drawing belongs to that interest in ordinary labour, treated with the same seriousness as the heroic subjects of his paintings.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault drew this in 1820–22, aged about 29. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jean-louis-andre-theodore-gericault)

French, 1791–1824; born in Rouen; died in Paris

Géricault trained with Carle Vernet and Pierre-Narcisse Guérin and studied the old masters in the Louvre, but his passion for horses and modern events shaped his art. The Raft of the Medusa, shown in 1819, turned a recent shipwreck scandal into a vast, harrowing painting, prepared through studies of corpses and severed heads. He spent 1820–21 in England, where he made lithographs of street life and horses. He died at thirty-two after a series of riding accidents.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- The artist was about 29
- Real size: about 12 × 15 in (30 × 38 cm). The 12 × 16 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Sleeping, Men, Horses
- Colour: grey
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1015.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1015/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/two-draft-horses-with-a-sleeping-driver-met-337192).