Eugène DELACROIX (Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798 - Paris 1863) - Lot 44

Eugène DELACROIX (Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798 - Paris 1863) Two figures on a boat in front of a pier Watercolor. Studio stamp lower right (Lugt838a). 10x14.5cm Provenance: Former Henri Benezit collection, Artcurial sale, Paris, Hôtel Dassault, November 13, 2015, no. 119, reproduced. This watercolor belongs among the painter's seascapes of the 1850s, such as the famous cliffs of Étretat painted around the same period (Delacroix, les dernières années, exhibition catalog, Galerie Nationale du Grand Palais, April 7 - July 20, 1998, RMN, Paris 1998). The brown background of the composition seems more reminiscent of a jetty than a cliff; in fact, Delacroix painted the Dieppe jetty several times in his work. This could therefore refer to a boat at the foot of the jetty, and probably the port of Dieppe. We can therefore assume that this seascape was painted during Delacroix's stay in Dieppe between August and September 1851.