Around 1849–50, Delacroix became captivated by the challenge of capturing the light effects of cloud formations and chose pastel to convey his impressions. While he used the medium throughout his career, the sky studies constitute his largest cohesive group in pastel. Delacroix’s sensitive analysis of color is evident both in the drawing and in a corresponding description of a sunset in his journal: "The gray of the clouds in the evenings verges on blue; the clear parts of the sky are bright yellow or orange. . . . The greater the contrast, the more brilliant the effect." He noted making such a drawing "with an eye to my ceiling," likely referring to his recent commission for the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre, which ultimately featured radiating sunbeams surrounding the central figure.
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Dimensions:Overall: 8 1/16 x 10 3/16 in. (20.4 x 25.9 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2014
Accession Number:2014.732.4
Marking: Stamped in red ink on verso: Delacroix estate mark(Lugt 838a)
Eugène Delacroix (French)(his estate sale, Paris 1864, nos. 608-613).; Alfred-Ernest Robaut (French); Baron Joseph Raphaël Vitta(by 1930); Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox(sold to Karen B. Cohen, 1988)
Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox. "Nineteenth Century French Drawings," 1988.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from North American Collections," April 10–June 16, 1991.
Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. "Delacroix, Les Derniéres Années," April 7, 1998–July 20, 1998.
Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Delacroix, The Late Work," September 15, 1998–January 3, 1999.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Romanticism and the School of Nature: Nineteenth-Century Drawings and Paintings from the Karen B. Cohen Collection," October 17, 2000–January 21, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions," October 24, 2008–February 1, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paper Chase: Two Decades of Collecting Drawings and Prints," December 9, 2014–March 16, 2015.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Devotion to Drawing: The Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix," July 17–November 12, 2018.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Delacroix," September 17, 2018–January 6, 2019.
Robaut 1817-1822 ("études de ciels"); Johnson 44; Paris/Philadelphia 1998-99.62.
Musées Nationaux , Palais du Louvre Exposition Eugene Delacroix. Paris, France, 1930, cat. no. 706, p. 309.
"Review - London 19th and 20th Century Exhibitions" Burlington Magazine. London, 1988, mentioned p. 548., p. 548.
Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox Nineteenth Century French Drawings. Sale catalogue. London, 1988, cat. no. 6, p. 14.
Jacob Bean, Lee Johnson, William M. Griswold Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863): Paintings, Drawings, and Prints from North American Collections. Ex. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, cat. no. 16, p. 81, ill.
Arlette Sérullaz Delacroix: The Late Work. Exh. cat., Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Apr. 7-July 20, 1998 and Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sept. 15, 1998-Jan. 3, 1999. Paris, Philadelphia, 1998, cat. no. 62.
Colta Ives, Elizabeth E. Barker Romanticism and the School of Nature : Nineteenth-Century Drawings and Paintings from the Karen B. Cohen Collection. Exh. cat.: October 17 - January 21, 2001. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press, New York, 2000, cat. no. 45, pp. 94-95, ill.
Ashley Dunn, Colta Ives, Marjorie Shelley Delacroix Drawings: The Karen B. Cohen Collection. New York, 2018, cat. no. 101, pp. 123, 165, ill.
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The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
