Lioness (studies)

The drawings of Eugène Delacroix are thematically very diverse: themes from the Old and New Testament, mythological and allegorical scenes, subjects from literature and the theatre, animals, portraits of people, nudes, landscapes, the Oriental world, still lifes, interiors and copies after old masters. As an animalist, he prefers horses and wild animals. He shares this love of tigers and lions with his friend, the sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. Together they visit the zoological section of the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle and the Théâtre de la Barrière in Paris, where animal fights are organised. In his line work, Delacroix takes the masses and their proportions as a starting point, creating forms full of life and movement. Delacroix himself says that one line in itself has no power of expression. At least a second one is always needed to obtain that power. This is very clear in Studies of a lioness. Around the volumes, the artist applies various lines that encompass rather than delimit the lioness' body. This makes the drawing more suggestive, lively and powerful in its expression. The use of the pen, with its possibilities for varied strokes, also contributes to this dynamic.