The Journal of Eugene Delacroix

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863) was one of the greatest French painters of the Romantic period. Passionately opposed to the sterile conventions of David and the other academic artists, he took up again the broken threads of the great Baroque style and created a long run of masterpieces. But even if he had never put brush to canvas, he would still live as a famous diarist. “Delacroix’s Journal” is one of the great documents in art history, a work of literature as well as a vital documentary source for scholars and students. In it the artist discusses his own paintings, his life, his sorrows and hopes; the paintings and sculptures of Rubens, Michelangelo, Constable, Bonington and others; old and new literature and the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini and his close friend Chopin; the events of his tune; the beauties of nature; life in foreign countries. Throughout he never loses his grip on the reader, though it seems that he wrote for himself only and never thought of being read. The resulting unselfconscious spontaneity and freshness give the work its unique quality, both as literature and as a source of insight into the mind of a great artist.
The complete text of the journal is immensely long, and the selection of this volume, edited by Hubert Wellington and translated by Lucy Norton, comprises about half of the original. The 80 illustrations complement the text by reproducing relevant portraits, works in progress at certain dates, and pictures by Rubens and others which are commented on in the journal or form important sources of influence.