Delacroix was a cat person

There's a new retrospective of EUGENE DELACROIX (the first since 1963) at the Louvre. Its on until july 23rd. DELACROIX'S self-portrait looks a little cat-like. Oui o non?

Cats big and small show up in his paintings repeatedly. So does this gent show up in my photos. Grrrr

A watercolor sketch with the anatomy well-defined, yet subservient to the emotional power of a resting cat about to attack.

The attack! Roiling cats get the better of these poor soldiers. How did Delacroix get the poses so perfectly? I wanted to lay a paw on this gent...

Marvelous lively cat doodles fill the margins of Delacroix's lithographs, yet have nothing to do with the litho's subject matter, but they definitely enliven it.

Horses too are a favorite subject

Delacroix was also a lobster man.

And an Orientalist par excellent. This painting is huge. The figures slightly larger than life-size.

Serene and graceful, the details create a lush, exotic atmosphere, little still lives hidden within a bigger picture.

A wonderful small oil study of Moroccan slippers, baboushes. Delacroix traveled many times to Morocco along with French diplomats, all expenses paid, as every artist would prefer to travel.

His Moroccan sketchbooks are reknown for their intimate views of quotidian life. Delicate pen sketches and superb watercolors are a stark contrast to his energetic, often violent, big ambitious paintings.

Then again here's a perfect, small study of a reclining odalisque with oriental touches.

Delacroix did many loose oil studies in preparation for the bigger commissions.

Like this complex composition.

I didn't know his big flower paintings before seeing this exhibit. Not your usual pretty paintings, they're full of energy.

Viewing the Delacroix retrospective was my break from an Urban Sketchers workshop in the Louvre courtyard.

Our assignment - paint the gazillion tourists racing by. I decided to focus on subject matter standing still instead. Please TAKE A LOOK on Etsy. And let me know if you'd like to get mail from Paris. Have a Bonne Week PBers xxx