Delacroix (Eugène) - Lot 1

Delacroix (Eugène) Ɵ Autograph letter signed to Stendhal. Paris, [Monday] - then "Tuesday", [December 18-19, 1837 [slightly faded postmark apparently of Thursday, December 21, 1837]. 2 3/4 pages in-8°, address on back ("Monsieur Beyle, rue Caumartin n° 8"), in a small folder titled "from M. Eugène Delacroix, peintre d'histoire". Shirt by Devauchelle. One of the most beautiful painter-writer associations of the 19th century, at the height of Romanticism, where Delacroix addresses his elder and inspirational theorist in defense of Géricault, dead for over a decade and whose tomb is abandoned, with a handwritten invitation from Delacroix to Stendhal to go to the Salon du Roi. It was in 1823, in the presence of Mérimée, that the young Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) met Henri Beyle (1783-1842) at the home of Baron Gérard. Never really close, they often crossed paths in the Parisian world, sometimes sharing the same mistress, such as Countess Alberthe de Rubempré. Romanticism united them, although in different fields: the painter represented its apogee, while the writer was largely a precursor. A passion for music, too. And Delacroix, who is not very kind to his fellow artists (including Stendhal) in his Diary, was fascinated by the History of Painting in Italy, from which he drew inspiration for his study of Michelangelo. Delacroix begins his missive: "Your letter has given me great pleasure, and I would like to be able to comment on it with you for my own benefit. In any case, may you receive similar letters from people you loved and esteemed in moments of discouragement [...]", before lamenting: "What a pity we don't meet very often! The slightest human being in my studio baffles me for the day. You people who can work at night are very happy. Then, the following day, he wrote about a proposed burial site for Théodore Géricault, who died at the age of 32 in 1824: "It's been 14 years since the grass grew over 4 feet of earth covering his miserable bones, and his name is not even written on the smallest stone. For Delacroix, "Géricault [...] is with Gros the greatest painter that France has produced since Poussin". Delacroix encouraged Stendhal to talk about him "to as many people as you can, especially to those who are made to admire with more warmth than others the great unrecognized natures that the century strangles not content to ignore them". ATTACHED, a signed autograph piece, no place or date: "Bon pour voir le Salon du roi /Eugène Delacroix/ Le matin avant 11 h[eu]res ou le dimanche." (3/4 page in-12°) addressed by the painter to Stendhal. Provenance: Henri Beyle; Jacques Guérin.