EUGÈNE DELACROIX CHARENTON-SAINT-MAURICE, 1798 - 1863, PARIS

Lot 84
Go to lot
Estimation :
18000 - 22000 EUR
EUGÈNE DELACROIX CHARENTON-SAINT-MAURICE, 1798 - 1863, PARIS
Preparatory portrait of a young man seen from the left profile for The Massacre at Chios (1824) Black chalk heightened with white on paper glued on cardboard Ca. 1824 Bears Eugène Delacroix's studio sale stamp lower right (L. 838a) 34 x 28,5 cm Preparatory portrait of a young man seen from the left profile for The Massacre at Chios Black chalk heightened with white on paper glued on cardboard c. 1824 13 3/8 x 11 1/4 in BIBLIOGRAPHY Sidonie Lemeux-Fraitot, L'Orientalisme, Paris, Citadelles & Mazenod, 1995, p. 156 [ill.] A preparatory study for the great composition The Massacres of Scio, this remains one of Eugène Delacroix's most striking works. A truly exceptional work for its contemporary resonance, it refers directly to the massacres perpetrated by the Ottomans on the inhabitants of the town of Chios during the Greek War of Independence (1821 - 1829). When the work was presented at the Salon of 1824, it inflamed the critics and triggered the great quarrel of Romanticism. Particularly remarkable, our study challenges the idea that after seeing the works of John Constable (East Bergholt, 1776 - 1837, London), Delacroix had lightened his colours. The very white face of the model here leads us to believe that from the very beginning, the painter wanted very light skin tones for his figures.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue