Delacroix
At The Met Fifth Avenue
September 17, 2018–January 6, 2019
Demonstrating the diversity of Delacroix's art, from grand paintings to intimate drawings, this volume illuminates how this intrepid figure changed the course of European painting.
Buy NowFrench painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) was one of the greatest creative figures of the nineteenth century. Coming of age after the fall of Napoleon, he reconnected the present to the past on his own terms. Delacroix produced an extraordinarily vibrant body of work, setting into motion a cascade of innovations that changed the course of art. This exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective devoted to this amazing artist ever held in North America.
The exhibition, a joint project with the Musée du Louvre, illuminates Delacroix's restless imagination through more than 150 paintings, drawings, prints, and manuscripts—many never before seen in the United States. It unfolds chronologically, encompassing the rich variety of themes that preoccupied the artist during his more than four decades of activity, including literature, history, religion, animals, and nature. Through rarely seen graphic art displayed alongside such iconic paintings as Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi (1826), The Battle of Nancy (1831), Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (1834), and Medea about to Kill Her Children (1838), this exhibition explores an artist whose protean genius set the bar for virtually all other French painters.
Accompanied by a catalogue.
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#ExpoDelacroix
Curious what makes this exhibition special and what to look out for when you visit? Learn about Delacroix's sources of inspiration and lifelong appetite for reinvention with Met curator Asher Miller as your guide—and discover what's hidden in plain sight.
"A glorious retrospective . . ." —New York Times (Critic's Pick)
"There's no lack of celebrated and ravishing paintings." —Wall Street Journal
". . . [the] most buzz-generating art exhibit of 2018, on both sides of the Atlantic . . . This is a show guests and curators will remember 50 years from now." —Forbes
"C'est magnifique!" —Daily News
". . . a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the painter anew." —Art & Antiques
". . . astounding in its scope . . . a tour de force of curatorial skill . . ." —Artforum
"No other museum catalogue text about this master—or many others—is so lucidly written, accessible, and fun to read." —Vulture
The exhibition is made possible by the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust.
Additional funds are provided by the Janice H. Levin Fund, the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, and the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund.
It is supported by an Indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée du Louvre.
The catalogue is made possible by the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund and the Janice H. Levin Fund.
In his preface to the Delacroix catalogue, Associate Curator Asher Miller notes the ways in which this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue will give museumgoers the opportunity to discover Delacroix with fresh eyes.
In this MetCollects episode, Assistant Curator Ashley Dunn introduces a sketch by Eugène Delacroix that expresses the energetic fervor of an early draft and bridges the distinction between drawing and painting.
Explore the Museum's deep collection of prints by Delacroix—a number of which are on view in the exhibitions Devotion to Drawing and Delacroix—in this Collection Insights article.
Marquee image: Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). Self-Portrait in a Green Vest (detail), ca. 1837. Oil on canvas, 25 9/16 x 21 7/16 in. (65 x 54.5 cm). Musée du Louvre, Paris. © RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY / Michel Urtado. Related Content images: Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). The Abduction of Rebecca (detail), 1846. Oil on canvas, 39 1/2 x 32 1/4 in. (100.3 x 81.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Collection, Wolfe Fund, 1903 (03.30). Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). Jacob Wrestling with the Angel (detail), 1850. Oil over pen and ink on tracing paper; mounted on canvas and backed with linen,sheet: 22 3/8 in. x 16 in. (56.8 x 40.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2016 (2016.759). Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). Studies of Twelve Greek and Roman Coins (detail), 1825. Lithograph; second state of four, sheet: 11 5/8 x 15 7/16 in. (29.6 x 39.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931 (31.77.24)
