Tea at Trianon: Eugène Delacroix, the Pioneering French Romantic Painter

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Eugène Delacroix, the Pioneering French Romantic Painter

From My Modern Met:

Delacroix and his contemporaries influenced the landscape of painting, which for decades had been dominated by the austere and intellectual aesthetics of Neoclassical art. Delacroix utilized the emotional qualities of color and expressive brushstrokes to create a range of spectacular pieces inspired by the political events of Europe, mythology, and his visits to North Africa. The evocated qualities of his paintings, which Here, we will learn more about Delacroix's art and the characteristics of his style. Here, we will learn more about Delacroix's art and the characteristics of his style.
A master of color, movement, and drama, Eugène Delacroix (1798 – 1863) was a leader of the Romanticism art movement and an influential figure in the work of the Impressionists. His oeuvre spanned contemporary events, mythological scenes, Orientalism, and portraiture.

Born outside of Paris, Delacroix began his creative career by studying under Neoclassical artist Pierre-Narcisse Guérin and learning to paint in a realistic style that emphasized modeling and design. As he continued working, Delacroix's style became looser and less refined, but it was not until he saw Théodore Géricault's painting, Raft of Medusa, that he fully embraced the Romantic style. (Read more.)