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Ferdinand-Victor-Eugene Delacroix
(French, 1798 — 1863)
Arab Saddling His Horse (1835)
Inventory Number: 3852
Oil on canvas.
18.5 x 22.5 inches (47 x 57.5 cm)
Delacroix was the greatest French Romantic painter whose use of colour was influential in the development of both Impressionist and Post Impressionist painters. His inspiration came chiefly from historical or contemporary events or literature. Delacroix took the subject for this painting from his recollections of a journey he made through Algeria and Morocco in 1832. The artist's works on Oriental themes are characterized by a synthesis of documentary realism — precise depictions of nature, costumes and other accessories — and Romantic mood. This work is a wonderful example of such an approach. An everyday action creates a sense of disturbance of something unnatural — the wild desert landscape, the dark sky with its threatening clouds, the sword in the front plane, the hurried movements of the Moroccan and the highly strung pose of the horse all contribute to reinforce the effect.
Size can be commissioned smaller or larger.
Collection of the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.