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Lot Essay
As the most important colourist of the 19th century, Eugène Delacroix was naturally attracted to the chromatic effects of the pastel medium. He explored its various effects across the full range of his subject matter. However, as Lee Johnson points out (Delacroix pastels op. cit.), "Delacroix's career fell in a period between two golden ages of pastel", bridging the gap between masters of the medium such as Maurice Quentin de la Tour in the late 18th century, and Edgar Degas and Odilon Redon a century later. Thus while Degas showed an extraordinary aptitude for the medium, he produced only about 100 pastels -- a relatively small number for such a prolific draftsman. The medium's fragility means that of these, very few finished works still exist.
Despite the art historical context, the paucity of original works created by Delacriox in this medium is surprising. The artist fully understood the wide possibilities of effect that pastel afforded: its luminosity, and its range of texture, line and colour. It is a medium perfectly suited for an artist as daring as Delacroix, but one that he preferred using to largely naturalistic effect: with few exceptions, rather than portraying the elongated and slightly distorted figures that make up the visual whirlwind of his more dramatic canvases, his pastels are more contemplative studies in light and colour.
It is ironic that while Delacroix never fully considered his pastels as finished works of art in their own right, the greatest pastellists of the 19th century -- Edgar Degas and Odilon Redon -- greatly admired their Romantic predecessor. Indeed Degas owned a number of Delacroix's works in the medium, including a finished pastel of the oil, An Arab Stalking a Lion (see lot 11). Of the relationship between Delacroix and his two successors, Johnson writes: "If there can be no doubt that Degas, in a very different way from Redon, went far beyond Delacroix in exploiting the potential of pastel, it is equally undeniable that Delacroix's colour technique, in whatever medium, provided a powerful stimulus for the two masters of the second heyday of pastel."(Delacroix Pastels op.cit.
This is probably the pastel that Delacroix refers to in his diary entry of 21 January 1847: "Stayed home all day. [Drew] the pastel of the lion for the flood victims." Like the pastel of a Tiger in the Musée Bonnat (fig. 1), it would have been a gift made specially for charity.
Despite the art historical context, the paucity of original works created by Delacriox in this medium is surprising. The artist fully understood the wide possibilities of effect that pastel afforded: its luminosity, and its range of texture, line and colour. It is a medium perfectly suited for an artist as daring as Delacroix, but one that he preferred using to largely naturalistic effect: with few exceptions, rather than portraying the elongated and slightly distorted figures that make up the visual whirlwind of his more dramatic canvases, his pastels are more contemplative studies in light and colour.
It is ironic that while Delacroix never fully considered his pastels as finished works of art in their own right, the greatest pastellists of the 19th century -- Edgar Degas and Odilon Redon -- greatly admired their Romantic predecessor. Indeed Degas owned a number of Delacroix's works in the medium, including a finished pastel of the oil, An Arab Stalking a Lion (see lot 11). Of the relationship between Delacroix and his two successors, Johnson writes: "If there can be no doubt that Degas, in a very different way from Redon, went far beyond Delacroix in exploiting the potential of pastel, it is equally undeniable that Delacroix's colour technique, in whatever medium, provided a powerful stimulus for the two masters of the second heyday of pastel."(Delacroix Pastels op.cit.
This is probably the pastel that Delacroix refers to in his diary entry of 21 January 1847: "Stayed home all day. [Drew] the pastel of the lion for the flood victims." Like the pastel of a Tiger in the Musée Bonnat (fig. 1), it would have been a gift made specially for charity.