Ferdinand-Eugène-Victor Delacroix

& Jean-Louis-André-Théodore
Géricault

Arts: Lesson 4
• Ferdinand Eugene Victor Delacroix, more commonly known as
Eugene Delacroix, was a French painter who had a profound
influence on the Romantic movement.
• He was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.
• He was a painter and muralist whose style of using expressive
brushstrokes and optical effects of colors.
• He emphasized color and movement rather than clarity of outline
and carefully molded form.
• He was known as a "master of color“.
• He developed a freer romantic style emphasizing color and
emotional intensity as shown by his powerful, contorted forms, and
smoldering, vibrant tones.
• Delacroix enjoyed a long and successful career, receiving countless
Ferdinand-Eugène-Victor
commissions from the government. His violent subject matter,
intense passion, and bright colors puzzled and offended some Delacroix
contemporary critics but earned the admiration of others.
• Delacroix's paintings changed the art world forever and his Date of Birth:26 Apr 1798
technique had a lasting impact on the Impressionist and Post-
Impressionist movements.
Date of Death:13 Aug 1863
• Today, Eugene Delacroix is remembered as one of the world's most
influential French Romantic painters and his expertise and genius is
fully recognized and appreciated by modern day art critics.
The Massacre at Chios • The Massacre at Chios shows some of the horrors of the
wartime destruction on the Island of Chios.
• Suffering characters, military might, ornate and colorful
costumes, terror, disease, and death are shown in front of a
scene widespread desolation.
• The vigor with which the aggressor is painted contrasted
with the dismal rendition of the victims.
• The painting was inspired by events from the 1822 Greek
War of Independence, during which Turkish Ottoman troops
invaded the island of Chios and slaughtered thousands of
rebelling Greeks.
• Delacroix brings the viewer up close to the action, and more
specifically to the sufferings of the victims, thus inspiring our
empathy and emotional communion.
• This work was not well received when exhibited at the Paris
Salon, as many critics felt it depicted the Greeks as victims,
rather than brave fighters, leading one to quip: "it's the
Massacre of Painting."
• Others saw fault with its loose brushwork and declared the
canvas "le laid" (the ugly).
 Delacroix’s Other
Works
Delacroix’s painting of the Women of Algiers in Their Apartment shows his masterful color technique and approach
to lighting. Delacroix bathes the women in a sensuous light and together with relaxed poses of women, creates a
calming effect. He changed the pattern of his brush strokes that range from smooth to rough , dull to shiny.

Romantic painters such as Delacroix often chose to illustrate either the sky, water, or trees (or all of three) in their
creations . Although he is best known in his depictions of complex figural compositions, Delacroix also displayed
Study of Sky, sensitivity to the expressive potential atmospheric effects by romanticizing the nature of the sky . Between 1849
Setting Sun and 1850, he took to painting radiant Sunset series, captured in richly layered pastels.

The subject of this work derived from a

visit Delacroix made to the home of a
Muslim man (and former pirate) which
included a separate apartment for his
harem, or the women of his household.
Though there is some ambiguity
surrounding the visit, we know that
Delacroix was fascinated with what he saw
and described the experience as causing,
"a fever that could barely be held in check
by sherbets and fruit. "

Study of Sky at Sunset Women of Algiers in Their Apartment

• He was an important French painter and lithographer during the
Romantic period.

Jean-Louis-André-Théodore
Géricault

Born: September 26, 1791

Died: January 26, 1824
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