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Eugène Delacroix

1798-1863 France/Romanticism

 

Brief Biography-Ferdinand Victor Eugene Delacroix was from Charenton-Saint-Maurice in Paris. His father was the minister of foreign affairs, and he was the ambassador of the French Republic in The Netherlands when Eugene was born. Rumour had it that Eugene’s birth father was a statesman and family friend named Talleyrand. Eugene’s life started adventurously; the story goes; that by the age of three, when they lived in Bordeaux, Eugene was burned, drowned, hanged, choked, and poisoned. He burned when a mosquito net over his head went on fire, drowned when a servant accidentally dropped him into the harbour at Bordeaux, hanged when he caught his head in a horse’s forage bag, choked after swallowing a grape and poisoned when he ate some verdigris.
His father died when Eugene was seven years old, and the family moved back to Paris. His uncle Henri Riesener, a painter, encouraged Eugene to sketch, and they regularly visited the studio of Pierre-Narcisse Guerin. His mother died when he was sixteen, and shortly afterwards, he enrolled as a student at Guerin's studio.
In 1816, he moved to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts where Theodore Gericault was a student. He was highly impressed by Gericault's painting, The Raft of Medusa, which influenced his first significant picture, The Barque of Dante. Jean Antoine Gros had it framed, and the state bought it to hang in the Luxembourg Palace galleries. Romanticism was at its height, and Delacroix was considered the movement’s leading painter.
In 1825, he spent some time in England and was deeply impressed by the works of John Constable and, to a lesser extent, Sir Thomas Lawrence, and David Wilkie.
In 1832, he travelled to North Africa with Count Charles de Mornay on an official visit to the Sultan of Morocco. He was intrigued and highly influenced by Africa’s colours, light, and lifestyles. When he returned, he received numerous commissions for the government, mainly doing frescos; during this time, he worked on hundreds more miniature paintings regarding his African experiences.
In his middle age, his health failed due to excessive work, and he moved to a house near Fontainebleau, where he commuted to his studio in Paris. In 1855, he received the Grande Medaille d’Honneur, and in 1857 he was elected a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In 1859, he stopped sending his paintings to the salon after critics attacked him. He died in 1863 due to a recurring throat ailment.

 

 

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assassination of
the bishop of liege

assassination of the bishop of liege

medea about to kill
her children

medea about to kill her children

shipwreck on
the coast

shipwreck on the coast

the agony in
the garden

the agony in the garden

Women
of Algiers

The Women of Algiers

Death of
Sardanapalus

Death of Sardanapalus

The Execution
of Doge

Execution of doge Marino Falerio

Horses Emerging
from the sea

Horses Emerging from the Sea

Liberty Leading
the people

Liberty Leading the People

Christ on
the Sea

Christ on the sea of Galilee

Taking of
Constantinople

Crusaders take Constantinople

The Barque
of Dante

Barque of  Dante

the Massacre
of Chios

Massacre of Chios

The
Jewish Wedding

Jewish Wedding

The
Natchez

The Natchez

desdemona cursed
by her father

desdemona cursed by her father

self portrait as
ravenswood

self portrait as ravenswood


Aspisia

Aspisia


The Studio

A Corner of the Studio


Battle of Knights

Battle of Knights in the Campaign


Wounded Brigand

A Mortally Wounded Brigand Quenches his Thirst


A Vase of Flowers

A Vase of Flowers on a Console


Arab Horses Fighting

Arab Horses Fighting in a Stable


Louis d'Orleans-

Louis d'Orleans Showing his Mistress


Michelangelo

Michelangelo in his Study


Olalisque

Olalisque


Pieta

Pieta


Saint Michael

Saint Michael Defeats the Devil


Study of Sky

Study of Sky Setting Sun


The Abduction


Taillebourg

The battle of Taillebourg


The Fanatics-

The Fanatics of Tangier


Before the Flash

Before the Flash


Bedroom-

Bedroom of the Count de Mornay


Baron Schwiter

Baron Schwiter


Combat

Combat of the Giaour and the Pasha


Frederic Chopin

Frederic Chopin


Young Tiger Playing

Young Tiger Playing with its Mother


Christ on the Cross

Christ on the Cross


Hamlet and Horatio

Hamlet and Horatio in the Cemetery


Lara's Death

Lara's Death


Lion Hunting

Lion Hunting


Mademoiselle Rose

Mademoiselle Rose


Milton Dictating

Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters


Moroccan Courtyard

Moroccan Courtyard


Moroccan Saddling

Moroccan Saddling his Horse


Moroccan Sheikh

Moroccan Sheikh Visiting his Tribe


Morrocan Fantasy

Morrocan Fantasy


The Moroccan

The Moroccan and his Horse


Saint Sulpice

Mural for Saint Sulpice Paris-Chapel


Murder of the Bishop

Murder of the Bishop of Liege


Orphan

Orphan in the Cemetery


Ovid

Ovid at the Scythians


A Violinist

Portrait of a Professional Violinist


Prince Muley Abder

Prince Muley Abder Rahman Surrounded by his Bodyguards


Still Life

Still Life with Lobster and Trophies of Hunting and Fishing


A Mad Woman

A Mad Woman


Cleopatra

Cleopatra and the Peasant


The Justice of Trajan

The Justice of Trajan


The Autumn

The Autumn  Bacchus and Ariadne


The Spring

The Spring Eurydice Bitten by a Serpent


The Summer

The Summer Diana Surprised by Actaeon


The Winter

The Winter Juno Beseeches Aeolus to Destroy Ulysses' Fleet


Greece Expiring

dela Greece Expiring on the Ruins of Missolonghi


Prisoner of Chillon

The Prisoner of Chillon


White Socks

The Woman with White Socks


Triumph of Bacchus

Triumph of Bacchus


Woman with a Parrot

Woman with a Parrot