Five Studies of Horses, three écorché

The sheet is typical of Delacroix's equine studies, often executed from life. His tutor, the neo-classical artist Pierre-Narcisse Guérin (1774-1833), had encouraged him early on in his artistic career to study the natural world, rather than relying on copying from antiquity, which was standard practice for aspiring artists at that time. This, combined with the influence of the equestrian paintings by Théodore Géricault (1791-1824), lead to Delacroix studying the horse in great detail, as stated in his journal entry of 15 April 1823, where Delacroix expressed his wish to master the subject: 'I must absolutely begin to draw horses. I must go to the stables every morning, go to bed very early, and get up very early' (W. Pach (ed.), The Journal of Eugene Delacroix, New York, 1948, p. 46).