Art Literacy – Delacroix

Delacroix – Young Tigers – 1830

“I would say that color has a more mysterious and perhaps more powerful influence: it acts as one might say, without our knowledge.”

The sixth and last artist the students will study this year is the French artist, Eugene Delacroix (1798 – 1863) Delacroix is considered the greatest French Romantic painter. Brilliant with color and the use of expressive lines, he created passionate works of art based on literature and international events. Delacroix was intelligent, well educated, wealthy and extremely literate. He loved poetry and used his own imagination to create stories to illustrate as well. His paintings are full of emotion, action, and human struggle that evoked a “restless energy”. His work contains wild animals in combat and beautiful fabrics and costumes. Delacroix intended to create a beauty “that is not quiet”. He used color to portray emotion and his paintings can often be recognized by the use of red. He used red to draw the eye around the piece and create balance.

During the months of May and June students will study the life and works of Delacroix and then produce a mixed media drawing of a lion using color and strong, active lines to create movement and balance. Look for their work to be on display throughout the school.