His Early Life

Delacroix was the fourth child of Victoire Oeben, a descendant of the family that created furniture for the French king and court in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some historians also believe that Eugene’s true paternity extended back to the statesmen Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord. This might be the reason why Eugene was consistently receiving patronage from the French Government despite the nonconformist character of his art. Up to seventeen years of his age, Delacroix pursued classical studies and in 1815, he became the pupil of a renowned academic painter, Baron Pierre-Narcisse Guerin. With the backing of Adolphe Thiers, who was interior minister during that period, Delacroix became in charge of architectural decorations in 1822.

His Painting ‘Liberty Leading The People’

‘Liberty Leading the People’ is one of Eugene Delacroix’s famous paintings immortalizing some of the horrendous events that mark the French Revolution. The present-day liberal democratic values expressed in terms like ‘Liberte, egalite, fraternite‘ are social values that sprung out of the tumultuous churn that France as a nation experienced during the period of the revolution. Like all major revolutions that evolved and ended in the dark annals of history, French Revolution, too, succeeded in the abolition of slavery and universal suffrage.

Seminude Appearance of ‘Liberty’

The inability of the administration to resolve the socio-political and economic issues, mainly, was the reason that led to the social turmoil and, finally, paved the way for the revolution. ‘Liberty Leading The People’ is an allegory of the 1830 revolution. Liberty is depicted as the bare bosom centrepiece holding the tricolor flag of France. This was the flag the militia held when they stormed the Bastille. The experts feel that the seminude appearance is like a historical reference to an ancient Greece figure sculpted nearly 2000 years earlier. The figures alongside Liberty shows all classes of people fighting together. The man in the hat on the right of the Liberty stands for the French upper class.

‘Liberty Leading the People‘

Delacroix is one of only a few famous painters who were able and had the courage to capture the traumatic social and political events involving the ordinary people, the aristocracy and finally Napoleon’s coronation. His painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’ is the most famous among the pictures created in commemoration of the toppling of King Charles X of France in July 1830. Delacroix completed this famous painting later in the same year. The picture shows the images of the French Revolutionaries some of whom are either injured or lying dead. Those who are alive are surrounding Lady Liberty as she continues to fight and seemingly exhorting them to carry on fighting. The Lady is holding the French flag and waving it in one hand and is carrying a gun in another.

This is Delacroix’s most inspiring painting made in his ‘romanticism’ style. the French Government bought the painting in 1831 for 3000 francs. The Government intended to display it in the throne room of the Palais du Luxembourg as a reminder to the ‘citizen king’ Louis Phillippe of the July Revolution.

His Choice of Subjects

‘Dante and Virgil in Hell’ was Delacroix’s debut painting at the Paris Salon of 1822. Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy‘ was the inspiration for Delacroix to paint this canvas. Experts, however, think that the tragic feeling and the powerful modelling of its figures are reminiscent of Michelangelo and its rich colour shows the influence of Peter Paul Rubens. Delacroix showed an affinity with Lord Byron and other Romantic poets of his time. He also drew subjects from Dante, William Shakespeare and a few others from medieval history. Delacroix always admired the landscapes of famous English painter John Constable.

‘Massacre at Chios’

His painting ‘Massacre at Chios’ is the result of Constable’s influence on him. This painting shows sick, dying Greek civilians about to be slaughtered by the Turks. Through this painting, Delacroix seemed to express his sympathy for the Greek cause in their war of independence against the Turks. This was a popular sentiment among the French people and this helped Delacroix in becoming recognized as a leading painter in the new Romantic style. His second painting ‘Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi‘ was also in support of the Greeks in their war of independence. The subject of this painting is the depiction of the Turkish forces capturing Missolonghi in 1825. the Greeks chose to commit suicide rather than surrendering to the Turks and being killed by them. The painting displays a woman in Greek costume and bare breast has her hands raised in an imploring gesture before the horrible scene.

His Paintings with Historical Subjects

Delacroix produced some masterpieces during the period between 1827 and 1832 in quick succession. ‘The death of Sardanapalus’ (1827) is the portrayal of a violent and voluptuous subject. Delacroix’s three finest paintings on historical subjects are ‘The Execution of the Doge Marino Faliero’ (1826-27), ‘The Battle of Nancy‘ (1831), and Battle of Poitiers’ (1830). He also painted another painting with a typically different subject, ie, ‘Combat Between the Giaour and the Pasha’, (1827).

His Morocco Experience

In 1832, Delacroix toured, besides other countries, Morocco. His Morocco experience proved to be a new revelation to Delacroix as he found a new way of life and beauty that he had never experienced in his native land. Delacroix made numerous sketches and notes during his trip and used them effectively upon his return to Paris. As a result of his Morocco experience, he compiled a collection of impressions in ‘Women of Algiers in Their Apartment’ (1834). In this painting, Delacroix portrayed three sumptuously consumed Arab women and the surroundings in highly attractive colours. He continued reducing his African experience into a number of other paintings, including ‘Fanatics of Tangier’ (1838), ‘Jewish Wedding’ (1839). His painting saga with Arabian subjects continued almost till the end of his life.

His Important Commissions

After establishing himself as one of the famous painters of that era, Delacroix started receiving commissions, mainly from the French Government. The first commission that he received in 1833-36 was to paint group murals for the Salon du Roi at the Palais-Bourbon. The next commission was to decorate the ceiling of the Library of the Palais-Bourbon (1838-47). He received a number of other important commissions including the Chapel of the Holy Angels, the Salon de la Paix at the Hotel de Ville, among many others.

Painting Large Canvasses

Delacroix painted several large scale canvasses of his career and the two most important among them are ‘The Battle of Taillebourg’ (1837) and ‘Entry of the Crusaders into Constantinople’ (1840). Some of his superb paintings with wild animals as subjects include ‘Lion Hunt’ of 1858 and the ‘Lion Hunt’ of 1861. Delacroix painted several self-portraits and portraits of his famous friends. Delacroix died in 1863, leaving a sumptuous collection of unsold drawings and paintings. He was one of the most fascinating and talented artists of the 19th century.

No Marriage and Many Affairs

Delacroix never married in his life but he had several affairs with numerous women, including some of his models. One lady, Le Guillou stayed with him until his death and Delacroix bequeathed one of his self-portraits to her. At the sale of his works in 1864, nearly 9100 works were attributed to him, including 850 paintings, besides numerous lithographs and drawings. Delacroix is one of the greatest painters of French Romanticism. He was on par with Bernini or Michelangelo of that era.

‘Horse Frightened by a Storm’ (1824), ‘Basket of Flowers’ (1848-49),