Basic facts...

Introduction:

Ferdinand - Victor - Eugène Delacroix was born April 26th 1798 in Charenton-Saint-Maurice and died August 13th 1863, Paris.

He is considered to be the first romantic painter, whose use of vivid colours and often realistic themes - influenced both impressionist and postimpressionist painters after the decline of classicistic art. His inspirations came chiefly from historical or contemporary events and even more, literature, preferably anglo-saxon, such as Byron and Shakespeare. A unique visit abroad, to Morocco in 1832 provided him with further exotic subjects that filled his canvases all through his life.

English painters impressed him a great deal, such as John Constable and Richard Parkes Bonnington. Delacroix visited England breifly in 1825. His tours of the galleries, visits to the theater, and observations of English culture in general made a lasting impression upon him.