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Delacroix

In this free course, Delacroix, you will be introduced to a variety of Delacroix's work and will see how his paintings relate to the cultural transition from Enlightenment to Romanticism. You will study Delacroix's early career, his classical background, the development of Romantic ideas and their incorporation into his work. You will have the opportunity to study some of his most important paintings and compare them to works favouring a Neoclassical approach. You will also be able to see how his themes, subjects and style were influenced by Romantic ideas, the exotic and the Oriental. Through this you will develop an understanding of the classicRomantic balance that shows how his work was influenced by cultural change of that period and to some extent contributed to the progression from Enlightenment to Romanticism.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- identify those aspects of Delacroix’s art that qualify it as ‘Romantic’
- understand the interplay between classicism and Romanticism in Delacroix’s art
- appreciate the nature of Delacroix’s fascination with the Oriental and the exotic even before he visited Morocco.
First Published: 09/08/2012
Updated: 14/04/2016
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Course content
- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Overview
- 2 The Death of Sardanapalus
- 2 The Death of Sardanapalus
- 2.1 Inspiration for the Death of Sardanapalus
- 2.2 Sardanapalus – subject and composition
- 2.3 A passionate reaction
- 2.4 Controversial colour and composition – exercise
- 2.5 Neoclassical – the established style
- 2.6 An alternative deathbed tradition
- 2.7 Interpreting the classical form
- 2.8 Colour and light – exercise
- 2.9 Painterly techniques
- 2.10 Colour versus line
- 2.11 Birth of the ‘Romantic’
- 3 Delacroix – classic or Romantic?
- 3 Delacroix – classic or Romantic?
- 3.1 A classical education
- 3.2 The influence of Géricault and Gros
- 3.3 A Baroque influence
- 3.4 Neoclassical and the Baroque – a delicate balance
- 3.5 The Barque of Dante – innovation within tradition
- 3.6 Massacres of Chios – challenging the establishment
- 3.7 Massacres of Chios – a critical stir
- 3.8 Transcending the Romantic-classic divide
- 3.9 Delacroix’s early career – exercise
- 4 The Romantic artist and the creative process
- 5 Romantic themes and subjects in Delacroix’s art
- 5 Romantic themes and subjects in Delacroix’s art
- 5.1 Sardanapalus – a disconcerting subject
- 5.2 Sardanapalus – passion and futility
- 5.3 The popular Gothic
- 5.4 A taste for the grotesque
- 5.5 The Gothic, the grotesque and artistic expression
- 5.6 Modernity – challenging tradition
- 5.7 Extremes of modernity
- 5.8 Delacroix’s modernity – the historical context
- 5.9 A reaction to the bourgeois establishment
- 5.10 Features of French Romantic art and artists – exercise
- 6 The Oriental and the exotic
- 7 Conclusion
- Keep on learning
- Glossary
- References
- Acknowledgements
Eugène Delacroix,The Death of Sardanapalus File
Charles-Émile Champmartin, Massacre of the Janissaries File
Jacques-Louis David Andromache mourning Hector File
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, The Apotheosis of Homer File
Jacques-Louis David, The Lictors returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons File
Peter Paul Rubens, The Landing of Marie de’ Medici at Marseilles File
Peter Paul Rubens, The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus File
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, La Grande Odalisque File
Eugène Delacroix, sketch for The Death of Sardanapalus File
Eugène Delacroix, sketch of a female nude File
Eugène Delacroix's sketch for The Death of Sardanapalus File
Richard Parkes Bonington, Rouen from the Quays File
Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, The Return of Marcus Sextus File
Eugène Delacroix, The Barque of Dante File
Nicolas Poussin, The Testament of Eudamidas File
Nicolas Poussin, A Bacchanalian Revel before a Term File
Nicolas Poussin, The Rape of the Sabines File
Eugène Delacroix, Massacres of Chios File
Nicolas Poussin Peter Paul Rubens, The Miracle of St Walburga File
Gros’s Bonaparte Visiting the Plague-Stricken of Jaffa File
Eugène Delacroix, The Murder of the Bishop of Liège File
Eugène Delacroix, sketch for The Murder of the Bishop of Liège File
Eugène Delacroix, Michelangelo in his Studio File
Eugène Delacroix, Portrait of Niccolò Paganini File
Eugène Delacroix, Priests and Monks File
Eugène Delacroix, sketch after Goya’s Caprichos File
Eugène Delacroix, Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi File
Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People File
Eugène Delacroix, Mephistopheles appears before Faust File
Eugène Delacroix, Duel with Valentine File
Eugène Delacroix, Faust and Mephistopheles File
Eugène Delacroix, Mephistopheles in the Air File
Eugène Delacroix, Faust attempts to seduce Marguerite File
Eugène Delacroix, Marguerite’s Ghost appears to Faust File
Francisco de Goya, They’re Hot File
Eugène Delacroix, Acrobats’ Riding Class File
François Boucher, Leopard Hunt File
Gold box with painted enamel decoration File
Gold box with engraved and enamelled decoration File
Eugène Delacroix, The Combat of the Giaour and Hassan File
Eugène Delacroix, A Young Tiger playing with its Mother File
Eugène Delacroix, Tiger attacking a Wild Horse File
George Stubbs, Horse attacked by a Lion File
Eugène Delacroix, Lion Hunt File
AV Notes that accompany Eugene Delacroix: The Moroccan Journey. File
Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa File
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