Crouching Woman
1827
Medium
Black and red chalk, with pastel, heightened with white chalk, over wash, on tan wove paper
Dimensions
24.6 × 31.4 cm (9 11/16 × 12 3/8 in.)
Classification
pastel
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
76779
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Crouching Woman is one of five pastel studies for Eugène Delacroix’s monumental painting The Death of Sardanapalus (1827; Musée du Louvre, Paris), which helped establish his reputation as the leader of the French Romantic movement. Of the few pastels that Delacroix produced, this is the only group that can be related to a single painting. Inspired by an 1821 play by the English Romantic poet Lord Byron, the canvas dramatically depicts the last king of the Assyrians. Reclining on his bed moments ...
About the Artist
Eugène Delacroix · 1798–1863
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) stands as the defining figure of French Romanticism and a pivotal bridge to modernism. Born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice near Paris, he came from distinguished lineage—his mother descended from the prestigious Oeben-Riesener furniture dynasty, while persistent speculation suggested the statesman Talleyrand may have been his biological father, a theory supported by physic...