Eugène Delacroix: 50 Famous Paintings Analysis and Biography

Eugène Delacroix Photo


The artist gained inspiration from the works of Old Masters Peter Paul Rubens, Titian and Caravaggio. He also focused on movement and color in his artworks, instead of merely putting emphasis on modelled form and clear outlines. As evident in his paintings, most of his content were on the romantic and dramatic side. He was influenced by the works of Lord Byron, who was better known for incorporating forces of sublime in his creations.

Born in a town near Paris, Eugène Delacroix was the child of Charles-Francois and Victoire Oeben. He had three siblings who were much older than he was. There were some speculations that the Delacroix's biological father was a man named Talleyrand, as Charles-Francois suffered from infertility at the time Eugène was conceived. Moreover, the artist had significant resemblance with Talleyrand, who was a family friend.

During his time as a painter, Talleyrand served as his inspiration and guardian. It was believed that this man served King Louis-Philippe, among other prominent figures in France. When Charles-Francois and Victoire died, Eugène was left as an orphan. He was a mere 16-year old aspiring artist at that time.










Beginning 1844 up to the time of his death, he remained in a cottage at Champrosay. He had a housekeeper who took care of him and preserved his privacy. By 1862, he became a part of the creation of the renowned Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Other members of the committee included Puvis de Cahavannes and Carrier-Belleuse. Just before he died, the art society began to organize a total of 248 paintings and lithographs by the great French artist. Delacroix drew inspiration from many sources over his career, such as the literary works of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron, or the artistry of Michelangelo. But from beginning to end of his life, he was in part characterized by a constant need for music, saying in 1855,

"nothing can be compared with the emotion caused by music; that it expresses incomparable shades of feeling"

At one point during his life, Delacroix befriended and made portraits of the composer Chopin; in his journal, Delacroix praised him frequently.

With his failing health, Delacroix died in 1863, leaving more than 6,000 drawings, watercolours, and prints to be sold. His Journals are among the most penetrating of artists' notebooks since those kept by Da Vinci.

A pivotal figure in the history of nineteenth-century art, Eugène Delacroix stands both at the culmination of the great painterly tradition of Dutch Golden Age trilogy Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, and at the beginning of something quite new and modern, as witnessed by the reverence given him by artists of following generation who were so profoundly influenced by his works: Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, and especially Van Gogh, who avowed admiration for the paintings of Eugène Delacroix with his use of Prussian blue and citron yellow in his masterpiece Starry Night. The uninhibited expression of energy and movement in his works, his fascination with violence, destruction, and the more tragic aspects of life, and the sensuous virtuosity of his colouring have helped make him one of the most fascinating and complex artistic figures of the 19th century.