Eugene Delacroix and Literary Inspiration

The problem ofthe relationship between literature and painting, although it has attracted for a long time the attention of scholars and has led to interesting research, still remains a profitable field of investigation. Unfortunately, artists and men of letters are often reluctant to admit how much they owe to one another. An exception is Eugene Delacroix, who lived from 1798 to 1863. His case affords us by far the best opportunity for re-examining the problem under consideration. For Delacroix in addition to being a great painter was also a prolific writer and in his literary works he not only admits openly his debt to literature but also devotes much attention to comparative aesthetics. The facts we discover in his Journal, his correspondence, and his published articles enable us to appreciate the nature and extent of the influence of literature on his art as a painter. These same facts help us to understand in their early stages some of the more significant trends of modern art.