{"id":831,"date":"2016-01-07T10:16:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T10:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/?p=831"},"modified":"2016-01-07T16:36:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T16:36:00","slug":"delacroix-the-frescos-and-his-museum-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/?p=831","title":{"rendered":"Delacroix and his museum in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Ferdinand Victor Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix<\/b>\u00a0(1798 \u2013 1863) was a French\u00a0artist who is regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. For 40 years Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix was one of the most prominent but\u00a0controversial painters in France. His\u00a0works were often criticised and\u00a0scandalising, never the less, he received many official honors and commissions during his lifetime. Complex, contradictory, a rebel, and an outsider, he had\u00a0a profound and lasting influence on his contemporaries and future generations.<\/p>\n

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Paris does many things well, and\u00a0Paris has a real\u00a0passion for art and culture, the proof of this is the fact that\u00a0it it offers you\u00a0over\u00a0200\u00a0museums to peruse. For me, personal and intimate\u00a0Paris reveals itself in the unique\u00a0spaces of\u00a0the smaller museums. Often situated in\u00a0the actual houses of extraordinary people who lived a true\u00a0Parisienne life with passion and inspiration,\u00a0<\/em>they include\u00a0the Mus\u00e9e Marmottan Monet,\u00a0Mus\u00e9e Rodin, the\u00a0Mus\u00e9e Gustave Moreau and the Mus\u00e9e Edith Piaf. Extraordinarily, the creation of one work of art \u2013 Delacroix’s\u00a0frescoes\u00a0in the Saint-Sulpice Church \u2013 is the reason we have one of these unique\u00a0museums to enjoy today.<\/p>\n

\"Eug\u00e8ne
Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix, Self Portrait, 1837 \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Delacroix’s first presented his work at the\u00a0Salon of 1822 (the official Paris art exhibition\u00a0of the\u00a0Acad\u00e9mie des Beaux-Arts<\/em>) with\u00a0La Barque de Dante, <\/i>now\u00a0<\/i>in the Louvre. This is an emotional piece, with\u00a0powerful, contorted forms and smouldering, vibrant tones. But it is no coincidence that this work was inspired by the written word.\u00a0During his early career, Delacroix\u00a0read Shakespeare, Byron, and Scott: he even visited England where he was impressed by\u00a0Constable’s landscapes. \u00a0These landscapes are supposed to have influenced\u00a0Massacre at Chios,<\/em>\u00a0shown in 1824. Although this work\u00a0was criticised by many, the French government purchased it.\u00a0The immense\u00a0Death of Sardanapalus<\/em>\u00a0was based on a theme by Byron\u00a0and\u00a0is remarkable for its theatrical sense\u00a0and intense\u00a0color.\u00a0However, it is a painting inspired by the French Revolution of 1830 that is the most well know of his works today. The iconic\u00a0Liberty Leading the People <\/em>in the Louvre\u00a0is one of the few\u00a0important works he created that had any connection with contemporary history. Although the scene is certainly set in Paris, you can make out the cathedral of Notre Dame in the background, like most of his works, the interpretation is allegorical.<\/p>\n

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\"Delacroix,
La Lutte de Jacob avec l’Ange. Delacroix, 1861. L.’\u00e9glise Saint-Sulpice de Paris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although social when young, and due partially to\u00a0health reasons, as\u00a0he got older the artist became increasingly reclusive eventually only seeing\u00a0a few chosen people. Most of this time he was living in the house and using the studio that was to eventually become the Delacroix museum. During his\u00a0last ten years he exhibited\u00a0in only one Salon in\u00a01859, and as had happened periodically in\u00a0his life,\u00a0his works attracted adverse criticism. However, at the time he had a strong supporter; Baudelaire. He believed Delacroix had essential qualities in his work and\u00a0was especially impressed by the power of Delacroix’s imagination. Baudelaire\u00a0stresses the importance of the artist\u2019s confidence in his own creative abilities. Sadly, Baudelaire’s praise was not enough to outweigh the harsh\u00a0criticism that followed. Indeed, at the opening of his mural in the Chapelle des Anges\u00a0<\/em>in the church of\u00a0Saint-Sulpice, Delacroix bitterly noted that the officials had spurned his invitation to view the work. But times were changing.\u00a0Baudelaire was not the only one noticing him. New young artists were discovering his\u00a0innovative works. Without actually looking to collect a following\u00a0Delacroix was to become a kind of spiritual master for them; some would even go so far as to create a cult like following.<\/p>\n

\"Delacroix's
Delacroix’s Studio and Garden in Paris.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Mus\u00e9e National Eug\u00e8ne-Delacroix, Place de F\u00fcrstenberg in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, is set in\u00a0the painter\u2019s apartment and his magnificent studio, which is in a delightfully tranquil garden behind the building.\u00a0Delacroix spent the last years of his life in this haven until his death on August 13, 1863. He was protected from unwanted visitors by his housekeeper, Jenny Le Guillou. He had left his old studio on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Lorette to be nearer the church of Saint-Sulpice where he was in charge of the decorating\u00a0the\u00a0chapel. Although he was\u00a0seriously ill at the time, Delacroix was determined to finish this fresco. He saw it as his artistic and spiritual testament. Painted from 1855\u00a0to 1861, today, these frescoes are the main attraction of St-Sulpice. They are in the\u00a0Chapelle des Anges<\/em>, on the right just inside the entrance subjects include Jacob wrestling with the angel, St. Michael defeating the devil, and Heliodorus being driven from the temple.<\/p>\n

\"Inside
Inside Delacroix’s studio. The walls are repainted in the original colour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Having no direct heirs, after he died Delacroix wanted\u00a0his works to\u00a0be dispersed by public sale. Most of his furniture was also sold. The apartment then had a series of tenants until it was suggested that the studio should be demolished to make way for a garage.\u00a0At this point, a group of painters, historians and\u00a0collectors decided to form an association to prevent this destruction. The Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des Amis d’Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix<\/em> was founded in 1929, with\u00a0state approval in 1934.\u00a0When the building was put up for sale in 1952, the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em>,\u00a0who were\u00a0only tenants, sold their\u00a0Delacroix collection to the French national museums\u00a0and used\u00a0the proceeds to buy the building and garden. The Soci\u00e9t\u00e9<\/em> then donated it to the State on the understanding that a museum would be created, which now is under the auspices of the Louvre.\u00a0This intimate setting of Delacroix\u2019s former home provides a perfect backdrop for the\u00a0paintings, drawings, lithographs and personal objects, which include some of his magnificent souvenirs of Delacroix\u2019s trip to Morocco in 1832. This museum is a wonderful place to visit. It never seems to be really busy, and the garden is\u00a0a lovely place to sit and contemplate art and life. Highly recommended.<\/p>\n

Mus\u00e9e National Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ferdinand Victor Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix\u00a0(1798 \u2013 1863) was a French\u00a0artist who is regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. For 40 years Eug\u00e8ne Delacroix was one of the most prominent but\u00a0controversial painters in France. His\u00a0works were often criticised and\u00a0scandalising,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10,15,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-exhibitions-and-events","category-inspiration","category-museums"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=831"}],"version-history":[{"count":96,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/delladrees.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}