Entrance to the Adelphi Wharf, plate 11 from Various Subjects Drawn from Life and on Stone (The English Suite)

Although he was famed as a painter, Théodore Géricault feared that he could never rival the work of his predecessors. Thus, he embraced the invention of lithography in the late 18th century as an opportunity to become the master of a new medium. In lithography a grease crayon was used to draw on a smooth stone, a process more similar to painting and drawing than other forms of printmaking. The development of Géricault’s work mirrors the exploration of lithography’s possibilities; here, for example, the artist experimented with the use of subtle contrast.