29 March 2018 saw the beginning of the Musée du Louvre’s exhibition of the paintings of Eugène Delacroix. It is the first full exhibition of Delacroix’s works in Paris in more than 50 years, the last one having taken place in 1963 – 100 years from his death.
Delacroix is widely considered to be one of the greatest representatives of the romantic movement that swept Europe (and to a lesser extent the Americas) during the 1800s. He was also regarded -from the outset even of his career- to be the leader of the French romantic school of visual arts.
His most influential work was completed in 1830 and is none other than the painting “Liberty leading the people” an unforgettable image of Parisians, having taken up arms, marching forward under the tricolor banner of France, during the July revolution.
Delacroix is also along with the British Lord Byron, perhaps the most admired romanticist in Greece. Both were fervent philhellenes, whose work inspired countless others to donate, or even fight and die for (just like Byron himself) Greece, during its struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire and its vassals. Their work also had a profound influence on their governments as they helped transmit the message of the agony of Greek civilians at the hands of the occupiers, in ways that a simple report from the diplomatic representatives of their governments, could not.
I think I was about 10 years old when I was first taught the history of the Greek struggle for Independence. The book I was studying, was what was then provided by the Greek educational system: Mostly written from an academic perspective, outlining the events that took place during that period in the main text, with some images in the wide margin on the right side. Among these images were also the two paintings of Delacroix that were influenced from the Greek struggle and sent shivers down my spine: The “Massacre of Chios” and “Greece expiring at the ruins of Missolonghi.” I will not go into the morbid details of the events that inspired these paintings. There are freely available and objective sources on the Internet that you can refer to, if interested.
The connection that I am making however, between Delacroix’s exhibition and the 10-year struggle of the Greeks to gain their Independence is anything but random, as on the 25th of March of each year, the Greeks celebrate their Independence Day.
Yet irrespective of my ethnic Greek background which may have resulted in admiring Delacroix’s work, I am fairly certain that I am being very objective when suggesting that should you find yourself in Paris anytime up to 23 July 2018, it would be a crime to miss out on a once-in-a-hundred years opportunity to visit an exhibition of the complete collection of Eugène Delacroix’s works.