Lot Essay
"Morocco made a great impression on me. All these emotions deeply moved me; I could only express them if my heart possessed a language. This country's aspect will always remain fixed in my mind, the men and women of this beautiful, strong race will be present in my memory as long as I live. It is through them that I really found the beauty of antiquity..." (Delacroix to Théophile Silvestre, Histoire de Artistes vivants, Paris, pp 65-66)
When Delacroix arrived in Morocco in January 1832, he had already painted several masterpieces of Oriental inspiration, such as The Massacre of Chios (1824) and The Death of Sardanapalus (both in the Museé du Louvre, Paris). Yet the six month sojourn was to have a profound effect on the artist and provide him with subject matter for the next thirty years. From 1832 to 1863, he produced sixty five paintings with North African imagery and this figure excludes works which have not been traced.
Our work dates to the same period as Le Kaïd, chef marocain (Musée de Nantes), exhibited at the Salon of 1838. A. Tardieu's description of the Salon painting could easily apply to The Arab Chieftain: "....the powerful colour in The Chieftain should be sufficient to disarm them (the critics) and to inspire a certain indulgence towards one of the most original and probably one of the most incorrigible artists of the day."(Le Courrier Français, March 22, 1838).
Delacroix mentions the work in a list which he compiled in the 1840's, titling the work Maure debout, Haïk et Caftan bleu sans ceinture. La mer au fond (Journal III, no. 372, supplement). Until its recent rediscovery, the work was only known from the Landollo-Carcano sale catalogue, reproduced in Professor Lee Johnson's catalogue raisonné.
Although Delacroix is now viewed as the leading proponent of French Romantic painting in the 19th century, throughout his life he craved acceptance by the Academy. The artist exhibited over one hundred works at the Salon during his career, including thirty-five works in his own room at the Exposition Universelle in 1855. However it was not until 1857 that he was finally accepted as a member of the Institute. Despite this late acceptance by the authorities and his lack of public popularity, it was his perpetual struggle with his art that effected his health - "I dream of grand things, but my health does not allow them: at my age one has to get used to deprivation."
When Delacroix arrived in Morocco in January 1832, he had already painted several masterpieces of Oriental inspiration, such as The Massacre of Chios (1824) and The Death of Sardanapalus (both in the Museé du Louvre, Paris). Yet the six month sojourn was to have a profound effect on the artist and provide him with subject matter for the next thirty years. From 1832 to 1863, he produced sixty five paintings with North African imagery and this figure excludes works which have not been traced.
Our work dates to the same period as Le Kaïd, chef marocain (Musée de Nantes), exhibited at the Salon of 1838. A. Tardieu's description of the Salon painting could easily apply to The Arab Chieftain: "....the powerful colour in The Chieftain should be sufficient to disarm them (the critics) and to inspire a certain indulgence towards one of the most original and probably one of the most incorrigible artists of the day."(Le Courrier Français, March 22, 1838).
Delacroix mentions the work in a list which he compiled in the 1840's, titling the work Maure debout, Haïk et Caftan bleu sans ceinture. La mer au fond (Journal III, no. 372, supplement). Until its recent rediscovery, the work was only known from the Landollo-Carcano sale catalogue, reproduced in Professor Lee Johnson's catalogue raisonné.
Although Delacroix is now viewed as the leading proponent of French Romantic painting in the 19th century, throughout his life he craved acceptance by the Academy. The artist exhibited over one hundred works at the Salon during his career, including thirty-five works in his own room at the Exposition Universelle in 1855. However it was not until 1857 that he was finally accepted as a member of the Institute. Despite this late acceptance by the authorities and his lack of public popularity, it was his perpetual struggle with his art that effected his health - "I dream of grand things, but my health does not allow them: at my age one has to get used to deprivation."