Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) was a French artist and leader of the Romantic school. We noted him last time as a friend of Théodore Géricault. Above, a self-portrait c. 1837.
Much of his work was drawings, not paintings. He said "Color always occupies me, but drawing preoccupies me." Above, Academic Male Nude with Staff, 1816-1820.
He filled notebooks with academic sketches, many of male nudes, like the one above from 1820-1822. It shows what I presume are blood vessels beneath the skin that he was studying for more accurate portrayal.
Another academic male nude sketch.
And another, this one accompanied by small sketches of other figures, a boat, and even a dog.
Delacroix's most famous painting is La Liberté Guidant le Peuple (Liberty Leading the People), 1830, above, showing the goddess Liberty with a French flag leading the French people in the 1830 revolution that unseated King Charles X.
I was surprised to learn that Delcroix used calotypes, a very early form of photography invented in 1841 that used paper coated with silver iodide. Above, a calotype of some of Delacroix's models in 1854.
In addition to his drawings, Delacroix did produce some paintings of male nudes. This is Etude d'Homme Nu (Study of Nude Man), 1850s.
We end with The Education of Achilles, 1862. It portrays Achilles as a youth being taught the art of hunting by the centaur Chiron.
Delacroix's health deteriorated and he died in 1863 at age 65.
3 comments:
He was very talented.
So thankful that Delacroix specialized in male subjects, minus their clothes. Exquisite sketches.
The pioneering French photographer Jean-Louis Durieu collaborated with Delacroix in 1853 to make the calotypes. Durieu was a lawyer/bureaucrat who took up photography as a hobby after he took early retirement.
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