EUGÈNE DELACROIX (SAINT MAURICE, 1798 PARIS, 1863)

EUGÈNE DELACROIX (SAINT MAURICE, 1798 PARIS, 1863)
Study of nude seen from the back
Lead pencil
18 x 13 cm
Monogrammed ED bottom right, dated "10 October".
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Delacroix was confronted, like his entire generation, with the emergence of the newest photographic technique in the mid-19th century. Far from making it his enemy, he took a keen interest in it and even chose to integrate it into his artistic practice. Thus, for lack of handling the lens himself, he employed the photographer Eugène Durieu in order to obtain pictures of nude models, both male and female. These images, which he sometimes takes with him, are a precious tool to practice drawing during his stays away from his studio.
"I look passionately and tirelessly at these photographs of naked men, this admirable poem, this human body on which I am learning to read." Delacroix, Diary, October 5, 1855.
The Louvre and the Delacroix Museum keep several drawings also made from photographic models, similarly dated and sealed.

Bibliography
S. Aubenas, F. Heilbrun, C. Leribault, Delacroix et la photographie, Exhibition catalogue, 2008. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.