Lion Devouring a Horse (Primary Title)
Eugène Delacroix, French, 1798 - 1863 (Artist)
As with the similar subject by his friend, the sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye (who is also featured in the exhibition), here Delacroix exploits the subject of fierce animal combat in the wild in order to explore sublime emotional states. As Baudelaire remarked: “Delacroix was passionately in love with passion and coldly determined to seek the means of expressing it.”
Signed in stone lower right: Eug. Delacroix
Blindstamp in lower margin: Les Artistes contemporains (Lugt 36b)
Printed in upper right corner: 17. Printed beneath image lower left: Eug. Delacroix pinx et lith. Printed beneath image lower right: Imp. Bertants. Inscribed in graphite lower left: "NF. PEo.-/ pop.-" (?) and "E. Delacroix - t.b.E (sur chine fixe)
George Corbin Harwell and Kathleen Leigh Williams Harwell Fund
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", The National Sporting Library & Museum, May 6 - July 31, 2016
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", University of Richmond, March 3 - April 25, 2016
"The French Horse from Géricault to Picasso: Works from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts", University of Richmond, March 3 - April 25, 2016
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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