Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (1798 – 1863) was considered the leader of the French Romantic school of painting from the onset of his career. He had an expressive technique for applying paint and played colors off one another to create optical effects. These two combined to majorly shape the Impressionists. The Symbolist movement of Post-Impressionism found inspiration in his fascination with exotic subjects.
In looking at Eugene Delacroix’s Romantic style, it is clear to see his influences from the great biblical paintings from the Renaissance, specifically Mannerism. In
Liberty Leading the People, 1830, he uses the dynamic pyramid or triangular compositional device that Leonardo used so successfully and serenely in
Madonna of the Rocks, 1483.
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Romaticism
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1830 |
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Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin of the Rocks
(sometimes Madonna of the Rocks),
(c. 1483-1486) |
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His work is much more dynamic, more along the lines Caravaggio and Rembrant, with the undulation of figures guiding the viewers gaze to the focus, in this case the flag
. His style slightly reminds me slightly of Reubens, but without the flowing frilliness and flair of his lines and figures. Comparatively, Delacroix’s work has a stronger more substantial line, but his paint strokes are applied in circular motion which gives them a similar swirl and diffusion of light.
References:
- Gardner's Art Through the Ages, A Global History, 13th ed., by Fred S. Kleiner - Chapters 22 and 30
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_the_Rocks
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