Artwork

Gredin de Sort!...

Gredin de Sort!..., by Horace Vernet, ink, 1826
Gredin de Sort!..., by Horace Vernet, ink, 1826

Gredin de Sort!... is an ink print by the Romanticist artist Horace Vernet. It dates from 1826 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

The print shows a rough-looking man with a big hat and wild beard. He leans on a stick, staring straight at you. His coat is messy, his boots worn.

The artist made this in 1817. It’s a lithograph—a way to print from a smooth stone. You can still see the grainy marks where the stone met the paper.

Look up lithography next.

Overview

Horace Vernet’s lithograph *Gredin de Sort!* was produced in the early 19th century, dated 1826. Executed on wove paper, the work belongs to Vernet’s extensive graphic output, which ran alongside his more widely known oil paintings. The image captures a solitary, disheveled figure, rendered with the immediacy characteristic of lithographic practice.

Subject & Meaning

The composition centers on a rough‑looking man wearing a large hat and a tangled beard, his posture relaxed as he leans on a staff. His unkempt coat and worn boots suggest a marginal, perhaps itinerant, existence, inviting viewers to contemplate themes of poverty, exile, or the outsider within a society undergoing rapid change.

Technique & Style

Created by drawing directly onto a smooth limestone surface, the lithograph retains the grainy texture where the stone’s surface meets the paper, a hallmark of early lithographic processes. Vernet employs bold line work and stark contrasts to convey the figure’s ruggedness, while the limited tonal range underscores the work’s dramatic immediacy.

History & Provenance

Vernet, a French artist celebrated for battle scenes and Orientalist subjects, incorporated printmaking into his practice to reach a broader audience. *Gredin de Sort!* exemplifies his engagement with contemporary visual culture, extending his reputation beyond canvas to the burgeoning market for affordable, reproducible images in the 1820s.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Horace Vernet

Artist

Horace Vernet

Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (French pronunciation: ; 30 June 1789 – 17 January 1863), better known as Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects.

This work is in the public domain (CC0). Image source: National Gallery of Art open access. Spotted an error in this record? Tell us.