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Lot Essay
The present sheet is a preparatory drawing for one of the 17 lithographs which adorn a French luxury edition of Goethe’s Faust (Part I) published in 1828, and one of the earliest works for the project. Commented on by Goethe himself, the images by Delacroix are a true milestone in the rise of Romanticism and a major contribution to the redefinition of the relation between text and illustration in the 19th century.
Delacroix's journey to England in 1825, where he attended a performance of Faust in London, strongly influenced him. It was presumably following this visit to the theatre that the idea of an illustrated edition of the tragedy began to take shape. The drawing can thus be dated to the crucial, early years of Delacroix's career.
With Romanticism, Delacroix embraced its fantastical elements, and the illustrations for Goethe's Faust are not an isolated project but denote a persisting interest in the 'gothic': other drawings, such as King James at the Battle of Poitiers or The Assassination of the Bishop of Liège (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. nos. RF 3153 & RF 1961 13) are examples of works dedicated to medieval narratives. Following on from his work on Faust, other illustration projects continued to occupy him with subjects in the 'gothic' manner: from 1834 to 1843 he worked on lithographs for an edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet (see Delteil, pp. 250 - 289, nos. 103-118), before turning once again, from 1836 onwards, to Goethe, illustrating his Goetz von Berlichingen (see Delteil, pp. 290-309, nos. 119-125).
Even though the sabbat scene is not central to the drama, it is one of the most memorable, and still looms large in popular culture and imagination today, with the Walpurgisnacht as the quintessence of German 'gothic'. In this drawing, all the ominous and 'spooky' elements are present: the gallows in the background, the witch on the ground, and the horses in mid-air, reminiscent of Dürer's woodcut of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is a prime example of the artist's ability to express the torment of the soul through the contortion of bodies. His freedom of stroke, especially in the horses heads, makes it a highpoint of dark romanticism in Delacroix's oeuvre.
Delacroix began working on his illustrations for Goethe’s Faust shortly after the publication of Albert Stapfer's translation into French in 1825 (R. Vilain, '"An Excess of Savage Force"? - Faust in French: Stapfer, Delacroix, and Goethe’, in: The Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. 73, Spring 2023, no. 3, pp. 313-371). The artist was given complete freedom in his approach to the project: he chose lithography (rather than engraving) to keep the freshness and the vivacity of his own hand in the final images; the images were to be included on single pages separate from the text and without pagination; some in portrait format others printed sideways onto the pages in a landscape format. These innovations represent a major contribution to the history of book illustration - and a bold statement from the artist, who seems to impose himself as equal to the author.
Three other drawings of the same scene are known: one in reverse to the present composition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv. no. FII 3; see J. Mack-Andrick, Eugène Delacroix, exh. cat., Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, 2003-2004, no. 47, ill.), and two others in the same direction, one at the Louvre (inv. no. RF 10006; Delteil, p. 189), and one in a private collection (sold Christie's, London, 5 July 2022, lot 65 (on tracing paper)).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) saw some of the drawings and lithographs before their publication in 1928. In fact, he received a first proof of the final lithograph for the present sabbat scene as early as 1826, before all other illustrations. Goethe’s comments were enthusiastic: ‘Herr Delacroix [hat] meine eigene Vorstellung bei Szenen übertroffen hat, die ich selber gemacht habe’ (‘in scenes I myself composed, Mr Delacroix has exceeded my own imagination’; quoted from: Goethe, MA, XIX, p. 168). In 1818, presumalbly after seeing the complete book, Goethe summed up the style of Delacroix’s drawings and illustrations perfectly when he remarked that the artist had ‘einen unruhig strebenden Helden mit gleicher Unruhe des Griffels begleitet’ (‘accompanied a restlessly striving hero with a similarly restless pencil’; quoted from: Goethe, MA, XVIII/ii, p.125). One can’t expect a greater tribute.
Delacroix's journey to England in 1825, where he attended a performance of Faust in London, strongly influenced him. It was presumably following this visit to the theatre that the idea of an illustrated edition of the tragedy began to take shape. The drawing can thus be dated to the crucial, early years of Delacroix's career.
With Romanticism, Delacroix embraced its fantastical elements, and the illustrations for Goethe's Faust are not an isolated project but denote a persisting interest in the 'gothic': other drawings, such as King James at the Battle of Poitiers or The Assassination of the Bishop of Liège (Musée du Louvre, Paris, inv. nos. RF 3153 & RF 1961 13) are examples of works dedicated to medieval narratives. Following on from his work on Faust, other illustration projects continued to occupy him with subjects in the 'gothic' manner: from 1834 to 1843 he worked on lithographs for an edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet (see Delteil, pp. 250 - 289, nos. 103-118), before turning once again, from 1836 onwards, to Goethe, illustrating his Goetz von Berlichingen (see Delteil, pp. 290-309, nos. 119-125).
Even though the sabbat scene is not central to the drama, it is one of the most memorable, and still looms large in popular culture and imagination today, with the Walpurgisnacht as the quintessence of German 'gothic'. In this drawing, all the ominous and 'spooky' elements are present: the gallows in the background, the witch on the ground, and the horses in mid-air, reminiscent of Dürer's woodcut of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is a prime example of the artist's ability to express the torment of the soul through the contortion of bodies. His freedom of stroke, especially in the horses heads, makes it a highpoint of dark romanticism in Delacroix's oeuvre.
Delacroix began working on his illustrations for Goethe’s Faust shortly after the publication of Albert Stapfer's translation into French in 1825 (R. Vilain, '"An Excess of Savage Force"? - Faust in French: Stapfer, Delacroix, and Goethe’, in: The Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. 73, Spring 2023, no. 3, pp. 313-371). The artist was given complete freedom in his approach to the project: he chose lithography (rather than engraving) to keep the freshness and the vivacity of his own hand in the final images; the images were to be included on single pages separate from the text and without pagination; some in portrait format others printed sideways onto the pages in a landscape format. These innovations represent a major contribution to the history of book illustration - and a bold statement from the artist, who seems to impose himself as equal to the author.
Three other drawings of the same scene are known: one in reverse to the present composition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv. no. FII 3; see J. Mack-Andrick, Eugène Delacroix, exh. cat., Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, 2003-2004, no. 47, ill.), and two others in the same direction, one at the Louvre (inv. no. RF 10006; Delteil, p. 189), and one in a private collection (sold Christie's, London, 5 July 2022, lot 65 (on tracing paper)).
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) saw some of the drawings and lithographs before their publication in 1928. In fact, he received a first proof of the final lithograph for the present sabbat scene as early as 1826, before all other illustrations. Goethe’s comments were enthusiastic: ‘Herr Delacroix [hat] meine eigene Vorstellung bei Szenen übertroffen hat, die ich selber gemacht habe’ (‘in scenes I myself composed, Mr Delacroix has exceeded my own imagination’; quoted from: Goethe, MA, XIX, p. 168). In 1818, presumalbly after seeing the complete book, Goethe summed up the style of Delacroix’s drawings and illustrations perfectly when he remarked that the artist had ‘einen unruhig strebenden Helden mit gleicher Unruhe des Griffels begleitet’ (‘accompanied a restlessly striving hero with a similarly restless pencil’; quoted from: Goethe, MA, XVIII/ii, p.125). One can’t expect a greater tribute.