Delacroix: Život Eugèna Delacroixa sa ulomcima iz Delacroixova dnevnika i 38 slika

1,594 A classic artistic biography that traces the life of Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), the leading representative of French Romanticism. Swiss art historian Courthion skillfully combines facts from the artist's life with an abundance of direct quotes from Delacroix's famous Journal, which the painter kept for decades. Thanks to this, the reader receives not only an external biography but also an intimate insight into Delacroix's soul - his thoughts on art, literature, politics, color, inspiration, and the creative process.

The book follows key stages: Delacroix's childhood and education, his early recognition after the exhibition of Dante's Barque (1822), his friendship with Victor Hugo and other romantics, large canvases such as The Massacre at Chios, Liberty Leading the People and The Death of Sardanapalus, a trip to Morocco in 1832 that deeply marked his color and oriental motifs, and his later years – work on frescoes in palaces and churches, conflicts with classicist circles and the profound loneliness of a genius.

Courthion's text is clear, lively and balanced – it neither exaggerates in praise nor criticism, but rather lets Delacroix speak for himself through his diary. Particularly impressive are the passages in which the painter reflects on the role of color, movement, music and literature in painting, and on his inner struggle between passion and discipline.

The book is excellent for lovers of Romantic art, the history of 19th-century painting, and those interested in how the great artist experienced his work and the world. It is stylistically accessible, and thanks to the diary excerpts, very personal and vivid. The 1944 edition is today an antiquarian rarity.