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Ferdinand
Victor Eugène Delacroix, the most vivid representative of French
Romanticism, was born on 26 April 1798, the forth child of Charles Delacroix,
Foreign Minister under the Directory and Prefecture of Marseilles. There
is some reason to believe that his real father was Talleyrand (1754-1838),
the famous diplomat, whom Eugene Delacroix resembled in character and appearance.
Charles Delacroix died in 1805; in 1814 Eugene’s mother followed, leaving
him an orphan at the age of 16. In 1816 he entered l'Ecole des Beaux-Art,
where he befriended Bonington
and Pierret.
In 1822 his The Barque of Dante
was accepted for the Paris Salon, and subsequently acquired by the state.
At the 1824 Salon Delacroix presented The
Massacre of Chios, a personal reaction to the genocide practiced
by Sublime Porte against the Greeks. This work placed Delacroix firmly
among the Romantic painters. Summer of 1825 he spent with Bonington in
England, acquainting himself with English literature; made lithograph illustrations
for Macbeth and Hamlet and heroes of Sir Walter Scott and Byron.
In 1828 a series of 17 lithographs illustrating Goethe’s Faust was
published. At the 1828 Salon Delacroix exhibited The
Death of Sardanapalus and The Execution of Marino Faliero.
In his Liberty Leading the People (28
July 1830) Delacroix expressed his emotions and understanding
of the July Revolution of 1830.
In 1832, Delacroix spent 6 months in North Africa, in the retinue of the
Count Charles de Mornay, Ambassador to the Sultan of Morocco, abd er-Rugman.
The life and customs of the Arabs fascinated him and were to inspire many
paintings: The Fanatics of Tangier
(1837-1838),
The Sultan of Morocco and
His Entourage (1845), The
Lion Hunt in Morocco (1854), Arab
Saddling His Horse (1855). In 1833-1837 Delacroix received
many commissions for portraits, decorated the King's Chamber in the Palais
Bourbon: Frescoes on the west wall
(1833-1837). His Women of Algiers in Their
Apartment (1834) was a great success at the 1834 Salon.
In 1838-1844 he decorated the library of the Chambre des Deputes and the
Chambre des Pairs in the Palais du Luxembourg, as well as the Chapel of
the Holy Sacrament at Saint-Denis; he continued to exhibit at the Salon;
The
Shipwreck of Don Juan (1840), Medea
about to Kill Her Children (1838), The
Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople (1840). In 1850-51
he decorated the ceiling of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre: Apollo
Slays Python (1850-1851). In 1855 he exhibited 48 paintings
at the Universal Exposition in Paris. On his eighth attempt he was made
a member of the Academy. His health worsened, he could no longer work and
spent much time in the country. On 13 August 1863 he died.
Bibliography:
Eugène Delacroix. by Ye.Kozhina. Moscow. 1961. (in Russian)
Delacroix. by A.Gastev. Moscow. 1966. (in Russian)
Delacroix. by Barthélémy Jobert. Editions Gallimard,
1997.
Delacroix les dernières années. Réunion
des Musées Nationaux. Paris. 1998.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
The
Journal of Eugene Delacroix: A Selection (Arts & Letters)
by Eugene Delacroix, Hubert Wellington (Editor), Lucy Norton (Translator).
Phaidon Press Inc., 1995.
Delacroix
by Barthelmy Jobert, Eugene Delacroix, Terry Grabar (Translator). Princeton
Univ Pr, 1998.
The
Cambridge Companion to Delacroix (Cambridge Companion to the History of
Art) by Beth Segal Wright (Editor). Cambridge Univ Pr, 2001.
Delacroix:
The Late Work by Eugene Delacroix, Vincent Pomarde, Arlette
Serullaz, Joseph J. Rishel, Louis-Antoine Prat, David Loit. Thames &
Hudson, 1998.
Delacroix
Pastels by Lee Johnson. George Braziller, 1995.
A
Century of Artists' Letters: Notes to Family, Friends, & Dealers, 1855-1968
: Delacroix to Leger by Jacqueline Albert Simon, Lucy D. Rosenfeld.
Schiffer Publishing, 2004.
Eugene
Delacroix: The Graphic Work a Catalogue Raisonne by Loys Delteil,
Susan Strauber. Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1996.
The
Paintings of Eugene Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue, 1832-1863
(Movable Pictures and Private Decorations, Volumes III and IV) by Lee Johnson.
Oxford University Press, 1987.