You may have seen that the cover of the Song of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" is "Freedom Leads the People".
This painting is a masterpiece of the French Romantic painter Eugène de la Croix.
Delacroix inherited and developed the achievements and traditions of various European artistic schools since the Renaissance, including the Venetian School, the Dutch School, P.P. Rubens and J. Constable, and influenced later artists, especially Impressionist painters.
Born in the province of Ardèche
Eugène de la Croix was born on 26 April 1798 to a family of upper-bourgeois Republicans in the province of Ardeche. His father was Charles François de la Croix, Napoleon's foreign minister, and his elder brother was a general with military power.
It is said that there is medical evidence that Delacroix's legal father, Charles, was unable to have children during delacroix's mother's pregnancy, and that their family friend Talleyrand was very similar in appearance and personality to Delacroix as an adult, and is therefore thought to have been Delacroix's biological father. Delacroix's legal father, Charles, died when he was seven years old. His mother also died when he was sixteen.
1837 Delacroix
《Self-Portrait》
1862
"Morocco Sultan's Tour"
1863
Conflict with the Arabs
1856 - 1863
Dionysus and Ariadne
Enter the Academy of Fine Arts and copy the works of famous artists
In 1816, Delacroix entered the Academy of Fine Arts. He studied in the studio of Pierre NarcissUs Gaillan (disciple of David). At this time, he often went to the Louvre to copy the works of Rubens, Veronese and others.
At the same time, he was influenced by his classmate Cirico and worked hard to depict reality. Delacroix admired Italian Renaissance art and inherited and developed the achievements and traditions of the Venetian and Dutch schools, as well as some of the artists of John Constabeuble.
Published excellent paintings and established the status of romantic central figures
In 1822, Delacroix published his first romantic work, Dante and Virgil (also known as Dante's Boat), in Paris, a comprehensive challenge to David's old traditionalism. When the Salon was exhibited that year, it immediately caused a sensation in the Parisian art scene, making Delacroix a central figure in Romanticism.
When the uprising of the Greek people for national independence was bloodily suppressed, Delacroix created with great sympathy the Massacre of the Island of Chia and Greece on the Ruins of Messolon, which were loved by progressives, making Delacroix a first-class painter of the time and establishing him as the standard-bearer of romanticism.
1822
Dante and Virgil
In 1820
The Massacre of Chia
In 1826
Greece on the Ruins of Myssolon
Influenced by British painting, the painting style was changed
In 1825, Delacroix went to England. The vivid colours of English painting made him even more dissatisfied with the harshness of french academic lines and the barrenness of colours. During this time he became acquainted with painters such as Wilky and Bonington. Influenced by English painting, his work became brighter and more passionate.
In 1827, Delacroix's painting The Death of Saldan Napal was unsuccessful when it was exhibited in the Salon, and it was subjected to various attacks and criticisms. The turbulent scenes and bloody massacres in the paintings shocked critics and his clients at the time. But it also shows that Delacroix's work has a groundbreaking novelty.
In 1827
The Death of Sadanapala
Created "Freedom Leads the People" and went to Morocco to negotiate
In 1830, Delacroix completed Liberty Guiding the People in Paris. This painting has resulted in one of his few depictions of contemporary socio-political events. The theme of the painting is clear, the fusion of light and color is strong, and the emotion is unrestrained, which is his most distinctive masterpiece.
"Freedom Leads the People" echoes Hugo's famous work Les Misérables. The painting was also printed on a 100 franc banknote issued by the French government and a stamp from 1980, and is now in the Collection of the Louvre in Paris. In the same year, the French attacked Algeria, and Delacroix went to Morocco as one of the representatives of the negotiating team sent by the king. This act opened a new window into his creative vision.
1830
Freedom Leads the People
Everyone will definitely find it strange, why does the protagonist have to dress like this in the good "Freedom Guides the People"? Is it for the eyeballs? Or was it torn apart in battle?
The young woman, the subject of the painting, wears a phrygian beanie on her head, a yellow dress, a belt tied around her waist flutters in the wind, and the dress slides to the bottom of her chest, and she does not wear shoes under her feet. With a straight nose, plump lips, a delicate chin, and a facial silhouette resembling that of a Greek mythological figure, she held aloft the French tricolor flag in her right hand and a barbed infantry gun in her left hand, turning her head noblely and firmly to look at the people.
Actually, she's not human.
It's God.
It's Lady Liberty.
Why? First notice that the red hat she wore, called the Virginia hat, was a symbol of freedom, because it was worn by freed slaves in Greece and Rome.
Secondly, she has breasts bare, no shoes, and a facial silhouette like a Greek mythological figure, all suggesting that she is a mortal god rather than a human.
You can compare the images of gods presented by the various statues of the Greek Athenian period, such as Venus with a broken arm, which were naked and did not wear shoes, in order to show the perfect flesh of the gods.
Delacroix painted The Lady of Liberty in the crowd, alluding to the fact that the people have god's guidance, and this battle will be won!
Travel to various places and make exotic paintings
In 1832, Delacroix traveled to Morocco and Algeria with count monel, the French ambassador to the Sudan. When Delacro returned to Paris from Morocco, he had new ideas for his paintings.
In 1834, Delacroix created the exotic algerian Woman. In 1837, his creation Of the Wedding of a Moroccan Jew also confirmed his strong interest in exoticism. During this time, Delacroix focused his main efforts on the creation of historical paintings. His history paintings differ from academic classicist history paintings with his new expositions of historical events.
Delacroix combines history, philosophy, religion, and people's suffering to make the work tragic and dramatic. For example: The Battle of Tayeburg, The Crusaders Enter Constantinople.
Changed the style of the work and painted a large number of murals
Beginning in 1840, de la Croix spent most of her time in villages outside Paris. There, he enjoyed time with his friends Friedrich Chopin and George Shah.
Around 1847, de la Croix painted murals in Paris for the House of Bourbon, the Library of the Palais Bourbon and Luxembourg, as well as the Church of Saint-Sulpis, and the Ceiling painting of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre. These monumental paintings express de la Croix's rich imagination, but also reveal the emptiness of life and the poverty of his image in his later works.
The painting "Freedom To Lead the People" was exhibited one after another, drawing the ceiling of the Louvre
In 1848, the reign of King Louis Philippe ended. Delacroix's painting Liberty Leads the People was eventually exhibited by newly elected President Louis Napoleon. In December of the same year, Delacroix's "Freedom Leads the People" began to be exhibited at the Louvre Museum. He then painted ceilings at the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre until 1850.
Shift the subject matter of paintings and create animal paintings
In 1856, Delacroix's works gradually tended to be based on realism-based Orientalism, and he depicted life and culture different from the European continent with exotic symbols.
He shifted his depiction of grand historical themes to another, rather personal theme, the animals. Animals - the embodiment of romantic passion, incorporated by Delacroix into his paintings. For example, Delacro's 1856 painting "The Lion Devours the Rabbit" also includes the 1860 painting "The Arabian Horse In a Stable Battle".
In 1856
The Lion Eats the Rabbit
Died in Paris
In 1863, Delacroix died in his apartment in Place Fürstenberg in Paris and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. The administrator of his estate found in his studio a large number of his paintings and a diary of Delacroix, which contains an in-depth study of colorology. Delacroix's last residence (a private courtyard in the sixth arrondissement of Paris) was turned into the Delacroix Museum (part of the Louvre).
Later generations commented on Delacroix's painting style: "Delacroix had different styles during his life of painting, but it did not significantly change the direction of his creation.
He has always been very respectful of his feelings, he can always find the best way to express his feelings, and he also pays great attention to the texture that color brings to the painting, so that the audience can immediately perceive the soul of the work. Moreover, in the theme of creation, he often expressed the same theme through different forms and styles. Memory is one of the most important concepts in his work. ”
As we have seen, delacroix's paintings include goddesses, bourgeoisie, heroes, workers and children, and representatives of all strata of society are in the paintings, all fighting for the same goal, for the truth of liberal democracy. This means that Delacroix is also fighting bravely for freedom.
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