Arab Horseman Giving a Signal
Artist
Eugène Delacroix
(French, 1798 - 1863)
CultureFrench
Date1851
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions22 x 18 1/4 in. (55.9 x 46.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 29 1/2 x 26 in. (74.9 x 66 cm)
Overall, Frame: 29 1/2 x 26 in. (74.9 x 66 cm)
InscribedSigned and dated lower left: "Eug. Delacroix, 1851"
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number83.588
Collections
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 214
Label TextEugène Delacroix French, 1798–1863 Arab Horseman Giving a Signal, 1851 Oil on canvas The horse became a symbol of the Romantic artist’s own restless and passionate soul—which is perhaps why Eugène Delacroix created more than 150 equine works like this one. Here an Arab scout turns in mid-gallop, the desert wind whipping up his red cloak, while he signals to his comrades in the distance. Delacroix was especially interested in North African subjects after he visited Morocco in 1832 on a diplomatic mission for the French government. Impressed by the brilliant sunshine and the desert’s vivid colors, he devoted much of his later career to similar images, using his spirited brushwork and animated forms to enhance the drama of his scenes. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 83.588 ProvenanceSale "A", Paris, May 5, 1860; sale "M.B.", Paris, Dec. 22, 1860; M. Cachardy, Paris; Cachardy sale, Paris, Dec. 8, 1862; Baron Michel de Trétaigne, Paris; de Trétaigne sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Feb. 19, 1872; E. LeRoy and Co., Paris 1889; M. Knoedler and Co., New York, 1889; William O'Leary and Co., Detroit, 1893; Alexander M. Byers, Pittsburgh, 1932; E.M. Byers, Pittsburgh, 1944; John Frederic Byers, Pittsburgh, 1948; Mrs. John Frederic Byers, Westbury, New York, 1964; E.V. Thaw and Co., New York, 1976; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., 1976; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, 1983. Exhibition History"Exposition des Oeuvres d'Eugène Delacroix," Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1864. (Exhib. cat. no. 94). "Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Water Colors, Drawings, and Prints by Eugène Delacroix," Art Institute of Chicago, March 20 - April 20, 1930. (Exh. cat. no. 36). "An Exhibition of the Alexander M. Byers Collection of Paintings," Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pa., January 8 - March 15, 1932. (Exh. cat. no. 17). "The Romantic Revolt," Springfield Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA, Feb. 7 - March 5, 1939. (Exh. cat. no. 17). "Eugène Delacroix 1798 - 1863," Wildenstein Gallery, New York, Oct. 18 - Nov. 18, 1944. (Exh. cat. no. 33). "Loan Exhibition of Masterpieces by Delacroix and Renoir," Paul Rosenberg and Co., New York, Feb. 16 - March 13, 1948. (Exh. cat. no. 7). "Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville, June 12 - September 5, 1977. (Exh. cat. no. 28). "Eastern Encounters: Orientalist Painters of the Nineteenth Century," Fine Art Society, London, June 26 - July 28, 1978. (Exh. cat. no. 83). "From Veneziano to Pollock: Ten Masterworks," Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, May 18 - June 24, 1984. (Exh. cat. pp. 17-19). "Man and the Horse," Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Dec. 3, 1984 - Sept. 1, 1985. (Exh. cat. pp. 54-55). "French Paintings from The Chrysler Museum," North Carolina Museum of Art, May 31 - Sept. 14, 1986; Birmingham Museum of Art, November 6, 1986 - January 18, 1987. (Exh. cat. no. 20). "Collecting in the Gilded Age: Art Patronage in Pittsburgh, 1890-1910," The Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, April 3 through June 29, 1997. (Exh. cat. pp. 120-123). "Delacroix The Late Work," Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France April 7 - July 20, 1998; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, September 15, 1998 - January 3, 1999. (Exh. cat. fig. 99). "Delacroix: The Music of Painting," Ordrupgaard (Copenhagen), Sept. 15 - Dec. 30, 2000. (Exh. cat. fig. 75). "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. Published ReferencesAlfred Robaut. _L'Oeuvre Complet de Eugène Delacroix: Peintures, Dessins, Gravures, Lithographies_. Paris: Charavay Frères. 1885. No. 1187, 317. L. Bortolatto. _L'Opera Pittorica Completa di Delacroix_. Milan. 1972. No. 582, 122. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya. _Treasures from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk and Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Tennessee Fine Arts Center at Cheekwood, Nashville. 1977. No. 28. Mario Amaya. "Contrasts and Comparisons in French Nineteenth Century Painting," _Apollo_. 107: 194. 04/1978: 16-25, ill. Fig. 3. David W. Steadman, Director. "Ten Masterworks!" _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 14, no. 6. Norfolk: Chrysler Museum. 06/1984. Supplément. "La Chronique des Arts: Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1984," _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_. VI Période, Tome CV, no. 1394. 03/1985: 26-75. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Nineteenth-Century French Art - Part I," _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum. 1985: 3, no. 4. Jefferson C. Harrison. _French Paintings from the Chrysler Museum_. The Chrysler Museum. 1986. No. 20. Guy Dumur. _Delacroix et le Maroc_. Paris: Herscher. 1988. No. 1. Odile Quirot. _Eugene et le Sultan: Le Voyage du Peintre Delacroix au Maroc_. Paris: a book for young readers by Éditions Adam Biro. 1990: color ill. 43. Jefferson C. Harrison. _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_. Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1991, Color Plate No. 76, 98. _Delacroix le Voyage au Maroc_. Paris: Institut Du monde Arabe and Flammarion, 1994, 107, 110, 111, fig. 44. Tatiana Ilatovskaya. _Master Drawings Rediscovered: Treasures from Prewar German Collections_. St. Petersburg, Russia: The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg in association with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996, 122, black and white ill. 123. Maurice Arama, "Le souffle de l'Orient," _Beaux Arts Magazine_. 1997:48-52, color ill. 50. Gabriel P. Weisberg, and others. _Collecting in the Gilded Age: Art Patronage in Pittsburgh, 1890-1910_. Pittsburgh, PA: Frick Art & Historical Center, 1997, 120-123, color ill. 121. Arlette Sérullaz, and compil. _Delacroix the Late Work_. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1998 249-250, color ill. fig. 99. Arlette Sérullaz, "Le Signal," _Delacroix les Derniéres Années_. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1998, 249-250. Thomas Lederballe, editor. -Delacroix: The Music of Painting_. Copenhagen: Ordrupgaard in collaboration with Rhodos. 2000: 130, 151, fig. 75. Tahar Ben Jelloun, _Delacroix al Marocco_ (Milano: FMR, 2004), 10, 37-40. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 38, fig. 32. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1
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