Eugene Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix (April
26, 1798 - August 13, 1863) was an important painter from the French
romantic period.
Delacroix was born at Saint-Maurice-en-Chalencon,
Ardeche, in the Rhone-Alpes Region of France. There is reason to
believe that his father, Charles Delacroix, was infertile at the
time of Eugene's conception and that his real father was
Talleyrand, who was a friend of the family, and whom the adult Eugene
resembled in appearance and character. He was trained by Pierre-Narcisse
Guerin in the neoclassical style of Jacques-Louis David,
but was strongly influenced by the more colorful and rich style
of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and fellow
French artist Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) whose
works marked an introduction to romanticism in art.
Chios and Missolonghi
Massacre at ChiosDelacroix did several paintings in support of the
Greek War of Independence against the Turks. His painting of the
Massacre at Chios (also called Massacre at Scio), showed poor, sick
Greek civilians about to be massacred by the Turks. He was painting
a contemporary event, for a political purpose, to encourage people
to support the Greeks in their war of independence against the Turks.
This painting was a popular subject at the time for the French people,
and by painting this picture, which was bought by the French government,
Delacroix became increasingly well-liked. He was seen as a great
painter in the new Romantic style. The painting also shows a view
of the suffering of people which was very new in art. There was
no glorious event taking place, no picture of swordsmen raising
their swords in valour as in David's Oath of the Horatii. This was
a picture where Delacroix painted the suffering of the people of
the Greek island as the focus for the picture itself, which was
relatively new in art. It made many critics unhappy that suffering
was seen as a fit subject for an artwork.
Greece on the Ruins of MissolonghiDelacroix painted a second powerful
painting in support of the Greeks in their war of independence in
1827. His painting of Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi is a powerful
picture, showing a woman in Greek costume with her arms raised in
a fashion where she shows she is powerless and begs to the viewer
to see the horrible events which occurred here, the suicide of the
Greeks, who chose to kill themselves and destroy their city, rather
than surrender to the Turks. A hand is seen at the bottom, the body
obviously having being crushed by the rubble of the city. The whole
picture serves as a monument to the people of Missolonghi and to
the idea of freedom against tyrannical rule. This event interested
Delacroix not only for his sympathies with the Greeks, but also
because of the fact that the writer Byron had died there, a writer
who he greatly admired.
Death of Sardanapalus
Death of SardanapalusDelacroix's painting of the death scene of
the Assyrian king Sardanapalus shows a romantic scene alive with
beautiful colours, exotic costumes and tragic events. The Death
of Sardanapalus is about a story of a king who was besieged, and
who ordered his guards to kill his servants, wives and animals.
His attitude in the painting was; If he was going to be killed,
he was going to take them with him. The scene at the front with
the nude woman about to get her throat cut is both extremely shocking
and powerful. In the painting, the figure of Sardanapalus sits at
the back watching the events taking place and he is somewhat distant
from the rest of the figures. In this way he is seen to have a somewhat
individualist nature as distinct from the rest of the group.
In fact, there was an individualistic spirit amongst
Romantic painters in this period in Europe. The painting, which
was not exhibited again for many years later, has been regarded
by critics almost as a sick gruesome fantasy involving death and
lust. However the simple beauty and exotic colours of the piece
take away some of this aspect, and make the picture appear pleasing
and shocking at the same time. In a sense the exotic nature of the
piece take away the violence of it.
Liberty leading the people
Liberty Leading the PeopleDelacroix's most influential work came
in 1830 with the painting, Liberty Leading the People. This painting
serves to show the difference between the romantic style of painting
and the neoclassical style of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. This
powerful work is probably his best known painting, an unforgettable
image of people gallantly marching forward under the banner of the
tricolour representing liberty and freedom. He has used a blend
of contemporary events, with a romantic image of the spirit of liberty,
rather than many paintings which were either one or the other. The
soldiers lying dead at the front right contrast with the figures
fighting for liberty at the top. It seems liberty is winning, and
it is as though she is bringing the forces together for the final
battle.
The French government bought the painting but officials
deemed its glorification of the idea of liberty as too inflammatory
and removed it from public view. Nonetheless, Delacroix still received
many government commissions for murals and ceiling paintings. He
seems to have been trying to represent the spirit and the character
of the people, rather than glorify the actual event, a revolution
against King Charles X which did little other than bringing a different
king, Louis Philippe, to power.
Following the Revolution of 1848 that saw the end
of the reign of King Louis Philippe, Delacroix's painting, Liberty
Leading the People, was finally put on display by the newly elected
President, Napoleon III of France. Today, it is visible in the Louvre
museum.
The boy holding a gun up, on the right is sometimes
thought to be an inspiration of the Gavroche character in Victor
Hugo's Les Misérables novel
Travel to North Africa
Sultan of MoroccoIn 1832, he traveled to Spain and North Africa,
a trip that would influence the subject matter of a great many of
his future paintings. Many of Delacroix's later works were based
on what he saw during this trip. As part of a diplomatic mission
to Morocco shortly after the French conquered Algeria, Delacroix
was entranced by the people and the costumes. He believed that the
locals in North Africa dressed similar to how the people of Classic
Rome and Greece would have dressed, and thought that the best way
to study what would have been classic clothing would be to study
the culture of the North African people.
He had some trouble getting Moslem women to pose
for him. He did manage to sketch some women secretly in Tangier,
as shown in the painting of Women of Algiers in their apartment.
While he did not find it too difficult to paint the men, he had
more trouble with the women, because of the strict Moslem rules
where women must be covered. Instead he painted some Jewish women
living in North Africa, such as Jewish bride, because they did not
have the same dress code and laws against women been depicted. Islamic
art has traditionally been more designs and arabesques than the
human figure, where the depiction of people was often frowned on,
or regarded as blasphemy. Delacroix sometimes had to hide what he
was doing from the local people.
While at Tangier he made many sketches of the people
and the city around him, for paintings which he would paint sometimes
much later. Many of the paintings he used imagery based just from
this one trip. In fact, he did over 100 paintings and drawings of
scenes from or based from the life of the people of North Africa.
He not only used imagery from scenes of people in these works, but
also he saw animals, which he incorporated into the paintings. In
Arab Horses Fighting in a Stable and The Lion Hunt in Morocco, he
used images of horses and lions along with people in costume to
portray the life in North Africa. In another painting with both
animals and humans, Moroccan Saddling his horse, the man has a more
important role.
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