Eugene Delacroix: Selected Letters, 1813-1863

by Eugène Delacroix

This volume contains the most representative and informative selection available of the letters of Eugene Delacroix, perhaps the most brilliant visual artist of the French Romantic movement. As edited by Jean Stewart, they are divided into four the first letters were written in his teens and early twenties, and show the essential loneliness that would dominate his life; the second, stretching to the age of 35, detail the travels that indelibly marked him; the third group dates from his return to France in 1833, telling of his grand commissions and of his relationships with George Sand and Mme. de Forget; and last are the letters from his final years, a time of official acceptance and relations with such notable figures as Stendhal and Merimee. Intelligently edited and fluently translated, these Selected Letters bring to life, in his own words, one of the greatest artistic geniuses of the 19th century.

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (April 26, 1798 - August 13, 1893) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school.

Delacroix's use of expressive brushstrokes and his study of the optical effects of colour profoundly shaped the work of the Impressionists, while his passion for the exotic inspired the artists of the Symbolist movement. A fine lithographer, Delacroix illustrated various works of William Shakespeare, the Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott and the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

In contrast to the Neoclassical perfectionism of his chief rival Ingres, Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on color and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modeled form. Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic. Friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, Delacroix was also inspired by Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the "forces of the sublime", of nature in often violent action.

However, Delacroix was given neither to sentimentality nor bombast, and his Romanticism was that of an individualist. In the words of Baudelaire, "Delacroix was passionately in love with passion, but coldly determined to express passion as clearly as possible."

Reviews

[Jody]

I can't recommend Delacroix's voice highly enough. His candor, liveliness, perseverance, sincerity are wonderful. From his problems it's apparent that artists' have the same struggles now as then: space, money, market.

[Lanny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am finding more and more I have the desire to read works of collected letters. This one is really interesting. Sometimes the formality of 19th century folk is a little monotonous, but also charming and refreshing in a way, but the great details
and especially for me, the sections on Morocco are so worth it.
In a most extraordinary turn of events, an older woman spoke to me at the oil-changers about the book. She asked what I was reading and I told her and then she said she was reading about Artemisia! who was much smarter than her own father!

My goodness.. I think I must often be that woman as well.
Enthusiasm is a disease, but it often has some certain rewards.