Leading French Romantic
painter, draughtsman, lithographer, writer and art critic. It is
possible that he was a natural son of Talleyrand. After studies with
Guerin, a follower of David, he worked at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, for awhile. In 1821, when Delacroix was in financial difficulties,
he was helped by his friend Gericault, whose work he greatly admired.
Delacroix became known from 1822 with his painting Dante and Virgil in the
Inferno, shown in the Salon. During a visit to Britain in 1825 Delacroix met
Lawrence and Wilkie. In 1831 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur and
during the following year visited Morocco and Spain, a journey which
proved to be crucial for the further development of his work. In 1833
a commission to decorate a salon in the Palais Bourbon was the
beginning of a period of very intense work and a number of public
commissions on a large scale, which established Delacroix. State honours
followed and in 1857, after 7 rejections, he was at last elected a
member of the French Institute. He was frequently ill now, but his
monumental work increased and he employed about 30 assistants. His
last great work, paintings for the church of St-Sulpice, occupied
him until 1861. His use of broken color and the freedom of his brushwork was decisive in the formation of the later Realist and Impressinoist movements.
Leading French Romantic
painter, draughtsman, lithographer, writer and art critic. It is
possible that he was a natural son of Talleyrand. After studies with
Guerin, a follower of David, he worked at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, for awhile. In 1821, when Delacroix was in financial difficulties,
he was helped by his friend Gericault, whose work he greatly admired.
Delacroix became known from 1822 with his painting Dante and Virgil in the
Inferno, shown in the Salon. During a visit to Britain in 1825 Delacroix met
Lawrence and Wilkie. In 1831 he was awarded the Legion d'honneur and
during the following year visited Morocco and Spain, a journey which
proved to be crucial for the further development of his work. In 1833
a commission to decorate a salon in the Palais Bourbon was the
beginning of a period of very intense work and a number of public
commissions on a large scale, which established Delacroix. State honours
followed and in 1857, after 7 rejections, he was at last elected a
member of the French Institute. He was frequently ill now, but his
monumental work increased and he employed about 30 assistants. His
last great work, paintings for the church of St-Sulpice, occupied
him until 1861. His use of broken color and the freedom of his brushwork was decisive in the formation of the later Realist and Impressinoist movements.
