Puma (Lioness watching prey) 1859

Eugène Delacroix painted Puma (Lioness watching prey) using oil on canvas. Delacroix painted in a historical context of burgeoning French colonialism. The lioness, an inhabitant of colonized lands, is painted as a figure of both power and vulnerability. Consider how the animal's gaze invites us to contemplate the complex relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, the observed and the observer. Delacroix once said "What moves men of genius...is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough." This artwork embodies his sentiment as it invites viewers to delve deeper into the multifaceted dimensions of cultural exchange and power dynamics. The work avoids traditional representations, instead creating alternative narratives of how we relate to themes of naturalism. The artwork evokes the raw, untamed aspects of both the animal world and the human psyche. It captures a moment of intense anticipation, reflecting societal anxieties and desires related to the unknown and uncontrollable.