Delacroix and nature

Written in French

At a time when Romanticism emphasised the feeling of nature and renewed the representation of landscape, how can we define the link between Eugène Delacroix and nature? He painted fauvists and flowers, but he wanted to be a history painter first and foremost, and his writings as well as his works show a certain ambivalence. Although he enjoyed walking in the countryside, he did not exhibit his rare landscapes. He multiplied his precise sketches on the ground, but left a lot of room for imagination in his paintings. Above all, the transition from drawing from nature to painting depends most often on the work done in the studio.

If he did not paint with animals or landscapes in front of him, it was because he was not trying to give a faithful representation of nature. As a history painter, he carried out a real intellectual work of composition from different sources: his own studies and memories, but also reminiscences of the works of artists he admired, such as Géricault or Gros for the horses, Rubens for the wild fights...

Exhibition "Delacroix and nature" at the musée national Eugène Delacroix from 16 March to 27 June 2022

160 pages
Éditions Le Passage / Louvre éditions