Delacroix

By Isabella Alston

Eugène Delacroix was highly influential in the 19th-century Romanticism art movement and is considered by many art historians to be the most important of the Romantic painters. Delacroix is often attributed with refining Romanticism, not only aesthetically but philosophically, as his work influenced not only art, but also literature. One of Delacroix’s best-known paintings, completed in 1830 and on the cover of this book, is Liberty Leading the People, which represents the Parisian people in their search for liberty, fraternity, and equality, a subject of great importance to the French nation on the heels of their revolution, which in turn followed closely and was inspired by the American Revolution. In 1832, Delacroix traveled to North Africa and Spain as part of a diplomatic mission to Morocco after the French acquisition of Algiers. He sought artistic inspiration, as well as an escape from stifling Parisian society. Delacroix wished to immerse himself in a more primitive—socially and physically—environment in order to find new energy and subjects from which to create art. He produced over 100 works based on his experience in Morocco, furthering a new trend in art called Orientalism. Much of his work remains in French institutions. The Museum Eugène Delacroix is housed in a small building attached to the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TAJ Books International
• Release date: May 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781844063949

Isabella Alston

Isabella Alston was born in Los Angeles. As a dual citizen of Switzerland and the USA, she considers both Europe and America home. She is a free-lance writer, artist, and astrologer, currently living on the North Carolina coast with her husband, a US Marine, and their dog, Archer.

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EUGÈNE DELACROIX

T&J

Published by TAJ Books International LLC 2014

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ISBN 978-1-84406-322-2 Hardback

978-1-62732-001-6 Paperback

Printed in China

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EUGÈNE DELACROIX

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I S A B E L L A      A L S T O N

Contents

Eugène Delacroix

Index

EUGÈNE DELACROIX

1798–1863

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix, better known simply as Eugène Delacroix, was highly influential in the 19th-century Romanticism art movement and is considered by many art historians to be the most important of the Romantic painters. His work emphasized the creative and imaginative aspects of the individual, focusing on the use of art as a means of self-actualization and self-realization. Romanticism reflected the newly emerging concept that an individual could only ever fully find self-awareness if able to separate themselves from society. Society only enabled the individual to philosophically advance and develop to a limited degree, and thus the individual had to search for enlightenment and understanding beyond the confines of society. Delacroix is often attributed with refining Romanticism, not only aesthetically but philosophically as well, for it was a movement not only in art, but also in literature. As a result, Delacroix’s contribution to art simultaneously influenced all the liberal arts