Schets van een paard 1852 - 1854

This is a sketch of a horse made by Eugène Delacroix, most likely with graphite on paper, sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Horses were, of course, extremely important to French society at the time. They were essential for transport, agriculture, and, especially, military power. Delacroix was particularly fascinated by horses. He filled sketchbooks with drawings of them, often focusing on their energy and movement. His work was heavily influenced by the Romantic movement which rejected the Enlightenment’s emphasis on rationality and order. Instead, Romanticism valued emotion, imagination, and the power of nature. Delacroix’s horse drawings were not just academic exercises. They reflect a deeper fascination with the animal’s raw power and connection to the natural world, themes that resonated strongly with the Romantic sensibility of his time. By studying the cultural context, and referencing the archives of the institutions that shaped his style, we can understand the important place occupied by Delacroix in the development of modern painting.