Eugene Delacroix, The Lion Hunt (1861)
The Romantic artists often found themselves drawn to the harshness and extremes of life. Gericault hastened his own death by riding the most spirited horses he could find while still recovering from a severe equestrian accident. Delacroix needed to satisfy his vast imagination by experiencing lion hunts in Morocco, North Africa. What are your thoughts on Delacroix’s thirsty imagination as described in his journal entry of 1822:
“There is in me something that is often stronger than my body, which is often enlivened by it. In some people the inner spark scarcely exists. I find it dominant in me. Without it, I should die, but it will consume me (doubtless I speak of imagination, which masters and leads me).”
roberttracyphd
Survey of the History of Art II 