Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863 · Romanticism & Landscape
Biography
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was the leader of French Romanticism. His passionate subjects, rich colour and energetic brushwork opposed the cool line of Ingres and later inspired the Impressionists.
From the artist’s life
Despite the unconventional style of his paintings and his many critics, Delacroix never lacked the support of the French state. The state bought many of his paintings, including the controversial The Massacre at Chios (pictured above), and gave him several important commissions during his life — the decoration of walls, ceilings, domes, friezes and many important public buildings in Paris. Delacroix is said to have been handsome, stylish and witty — a lively conversationalist with enormous personal charm and of course huge talent. But the real driving forces behind his support lay in his family connections. According to the documents Delacroix’s father was the government official Charles Delacroix, a former prefect of Bordeaux, but there is good reason to think that his real father was the influential statesman Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (pictured). Talleyrand, whom Delacroix strongly resembled in both appearance and personality, probably played an important part in many of Delacroix’s important commissions.
From the page of Orphan Girl at the Cemetery
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was the leader of French Romanticism. His passion for colour, movement and dramatic subjects, from history to the Orient, set him against the classicism of Ingres.
From the page of Liberty Leading the People
