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A Wall Decorated in Spanish Tiles

1832
Not on view
Watercolors were still cumbersome to use outside the studio at this date, so Delacroix often added notes on color to his graphite sketches for later reference. He used that process to execute this drawing of a distinctive tile wall rapidly on-site and then carefully fill in the design with watercolor at another time. Delacroix adapted this tile pattern in one of the most significant paintings inspired by his visit to North Africa, "Women of Algiers in their Apartment" (1834; Musée du Louvre), underlining the crucial role of drawings in providing source material he could consult throughout his career.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Wall Decorated in Spanish Tiles
  • Artist: Eugène Delacroix (French, Charenton-Saint-Maurice 1798–1863 Paris)
  • Date: 1832
  • Medium: Watercolor over graphite
  • Dimensions: Overall: 4 1/2 x 7 1/8 in. (11.4 x 18.1 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Gift from the Karen B. Cohen Collection of Eugène Delacroix, in honor of Dr. Harvey Wolinsky, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1135.16
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Studies of Horses, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite and traces of brown ink on laid paper
Studies of Horses
Eugène Delacroix
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head, Eugène Delacroix French, Pen and brown ink on tracing paper (mounted on heavy wove paper)
A Bearded Man, Standing, and a Classical Head
Eugène Delacroix
1815–63
Les Français peints par eux-mêmes encyclopédie morale du dix-neuvième siècle. Paris, L. Curmer, 1840-1842.
Eugène Delacroix
19th century
La Pietà, Eugène Delacroix French, Etching on chine collé; second state of two
La Pietà
Multiple artists/makers
1852
Studies of a Goat, Eugène Delacroix French, Graphite on wove paper
Studies of a Goat
Eugène Delacroix
1798–1863

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