Delacroix In Morocco

ABOUT THIS BOOK: A sensual, impressive, scholarly, biographical, and readable book on Delacroix's remarkable work in Morocco in the 1830's. The level of reproduction here is excellent. The book features sketches, working drawings, and color studies which allow us to see the artist at work.

BOOK DETAILS: Hardback, cloth over boards, sewn binding. 239 pp. 4.25 pounds. Large format color illustrations throughout.

ABOUT DELACROIX'S MOROCCO WORK: "'If someday you have a few months to spare, come to Barbary...you will feel the precious and exceptional influence of the sun, which gives everything a piercing life.' Just over 160 years ago, Eugene Delacroix left a wan Paris winter for a six-month adventure in North Africa. While few of us can jump up and follow his footsteps, following his brush strokes is an excellent alternative."

"Splendor and sprawl barely begin to describe Delacroix's 1832 trip to Morocco. He was 35 years old, had experienced a queasy mix of acclaim and derision at the Salons, and was restless for adventure." His "itinerary took him from Tangiers on an epic journey inland to visit the sultan, followed by a brief side trip to Spain, and a stopover that included a harem visit in Algiers."

"Delacroix worked like a demon, filling seven notebooks with drawings, watercolors and notes on the people, architecture and accouterments of Moroccan life."

"Delacroix is called a Romantic. The word implies an inchoate emotionalism that is important in his work, but the man himself was almost icily intellectual." "His anthropological eye was perfectly suited for the North African mission. Watercolor sketches of figures, buildings, objects and landscapes, most bearing color notations, show the artist's unquenchable appreciation for the details of appearance."

-- Christa Weil