David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre features eighty drawings by some of the finest artists working in France from the start of the Revolution in 1789, to the establishment of the Second Empire in 1852, a period marked by social, political and cultural upheaval. Drawings by Jacques-Louis David, Eugène Delacroix, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and many others show how such dramatic developments influenced the subject matter, style and patronage of these artists.
The display is jointly curated by Louis-Antoine Prat, curator in the Department of Graphic Arts at the Louvre Museum, Paris, and Jennifer Tonkovich, of the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. Additional assistance is provided by Esther Bell, Moore Curatorial Fellow at The Morgan.
David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre is a collaboration between The Louvre Museum, Paris, and The Morgan Library & Museum, New York. This is not the first major collaboration between these two organisations. In the 1990s The Morgan lent over one hundred works to the Louvre, and now the favour has been returned. It is only on extremely rare occasions that the Louvre allows large groups of major items to travel abroad.
David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France – Highlights of the Exhibition
David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France features The Sabine Women Intervening to Stop the Fight between the Romans and Sabines by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). The drawing presents a legendary chapter from 8th century Rome: the Sabine women have been captured by the Romans and the Sabines fight to secure their release. The artist portrays the Sabine women stepping in to halt the battle between the Sabines and the Romans. The drawing was executed in preparation for a large oil painting (H. 3.85 m x L. 5.22 m) of 1799, that hangs in the Louvre Museum.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) is acknowledged as one of the finest draughtsmen in French history, renowned for his portraits of the French bourgeoisie during the reign of Louis-Phillippe I (r. 1830–48). The exhibition includes Portrait of Louis-François Bertin, (1832), founder of the Journal des Débats, an important French newspaper. The drawing was executed in preparation for a later oil-on-canvas portrait. The exhibition also features several portraits, including a self-portrait, and two studies for a later canvas, The Turkish Bath.
Also shown in this exhibition is a sheet of preparatory studies for the Death of Sardanapalus by Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), which hangs in the Louvre. Death of Sardanapalus is based on the story of Sardanapalus, the last king of Assyria. Faced with military defeat and subsequent death, he ordered his possessions destroyed and his sex slaves murdered. The preparatory study sheet features portraits of key figures from the scene.
David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France – Exhibition Catalogue and Public Events
In a 200-page catalogue every item in the exhibition is illustrated in colour, accompanied by essays by Louis-Antoine Prat and Jennifer Tonkovich. The catalogue presents new research on individual artists, as well as the Romantic era in general.
The Morgan is organising a comprehensive menu of public events relating to this exhibition. The programme includes a symposium, gallery talks and concert, as well as family events including drop-in drawing workshops, Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day, and a Winter Family Day Celebration.
David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre will be on display from 23rd September to 31st December 2011. Further information is available from The Morgan Library & Museum.
Related Exhibition
An exhibition running concurrently at The Morgan, Ingres at the Morgan, shows more drawings by Ingres, spanning the artist's entire career.
Sources:
- The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
- The Louvre Museum, Paris, France
- Fride-Carrassat, P., Great Painters (Chamb Arts Library), Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2004
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
