Artists inspire: Eugene Delacroix - my stories about artists of the past, vol.10. Biography, paintings, stories:)

In my introduction I said that I graduated as an art critic. How a few years I worked at the musium in my city, but finally I became an artist myself. But I still have full head of interesting fakts and storys about great artists of past, which got me thinking: why not to share my knowledge here?:)

Today I will tell you about one of my favorite artists: Eugene Delacroix, a brilliant representative of french romanitc.

Delacroix was born on April 26, 1798 near Paris. It is not known whether he really was the son of his father. Edzhen was the fourth child in the family, but it was known that after the conception of the third his father had a tumor found that had an effect on the potency. And outwardly, Edzhen was more like Charles Maurice de Talleyrand - his mother's friend. But the future artist all his life lovingly loved his mother's husband and suppressed any hints.

Edzhen was a nervous and restless child. There were always troubles with him. In three years he has straightened out overboard the ship, and once he made a fire and almost burnt himself. After growing up, Delacroix entered the Paris Imperial Lyceum. He receives a classical education, fencing, playing the harpsichord. But even then all his school notebooks were filled with sketches and drawings. Already in these early drawings he traced his style, which Charles Juodler would later call "a style without a straitjacket." Baudelaire was not the only one who said so. The artist classicist Jacques Louis David said that Delacroix "draws a mad broom." Delacroix replied in response that David "colorises his drawings."

The hero of my previous post Theodore Gericault made a great impression on hero of this post. He also began studying horses anatomy and drew them a lot. And he also loves riding. The artist wants to find the source of his inspiration and, at the invitation of Count Charles de Morne, travels to Morocco. He draws a lot, sketches trying to capture this fairy-tale world. Sultan of Morocco hosted a reception in honor of the delegation, which included Delacroix. The artist is struck by the beauty and richness of the east. In Morocco he could not wait for any women - the Moors are very jealous. Unheard of honor will be rendered to the artist later in Algeria, where the nobleman will let him into his harem to create paintings.

The artist suffers from tuberculosis since 1842, which eventually kills him. Delacroix died on August 13, 1863, almost completely alone.

Now I want to show you some of the most famous paintings. And I'll start with the "The Massacre at Chios".

The painting was exhibited at the Salon and a shock was released. "It seems that the artist revels depicting of this muck" - they talked about her. Delacroix draws with open, contrasting colors. The plot of the picture was based on the slaughter of the Ottoman Empire the Greek settlements. A baby, how's seeking the breast of his dead mother, A frightened old woman. A dead couple on the left. This really is a shocking painting.

"The Death of Sardanapal"

Another shocking picture. King Sardanapal realized that his reign had come to an end and was preparing to self-immolation. By tradition, along with him, his entire harem must perish. The King watches indifferently how soldiers are killing helpless women and animals.

"Liberty Leading the People"

Paris streets from the pages of Hugo's novel Les Miserables. Quintessence of the French Revolution

And several portraits of "Algerian women". Delacroix wrote not only action scenes, although they worked out the best.

This is where I want to remind you again that I really put much effort into creating this post:) English is my second, and it's not always easy for me to express my thoughts. I hope you liked it. If you do- please upvote, resteem and follow, it really inspires me to create more long and informative posts:)   

Thank you for watching:)

Love, Inber