Hamlet Pursuing His Father's Ghost, plate 2 from Hamlet
1835
Medium
Lithograph in black on off-white China paper laid down on white wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 25.9 × 20.3 cm (10 1/4 × 8 in.); Sheet: 54.7 × 36 cm (21 9/16 × 14 3/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
142573
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
While Eugène Delacroix is known for the vivid colors of his paintings, his experiments with lithography provide a black-and-white glimpse into the artist’s imagination. Delacroix became immersed in the work of Shakespeare as a college student, and he saw the great English actor Edmund Kean perform Hamlet in England. Here Delacroix attempted to interpret what he saw as Shakespeare’s understated, evocative use of ghosts and spirits.
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...