Shipwreck on the Coast Postcard

This is a reproduction of “Shipwreck on the Coast” of 1862 by Eugene Delacroix. This painting was created in the year that Delacroix joined in the creation of the National Society of Beaux Arts. During this time he was in frail health and largely painted landscapes. He died the next year. Delacroix was sixty-four years old when he painted this scene. He was enjoying a leading position in French artistic circles. He had burst upon the French artistic word at the age of twenty-four with his “Barque of Dante” and became an immediate leader of the new Romantic movement. In contrast to the perfectionist Academics, Delacroix led the Romantics in the use of expressive brushstrokes being inspired by Rubens and Titan. He favored exotic scenes and emphasised colour and movement rather than clarity of line. Though his subjects were full of passion and violence, he depicted them with a great clarifty. He died in 1863 and influenced both the Impressionists and the Symbolists. This masterpiece is an oil on wood and measures 15 by 17.8 inches. It is in the Museum of Fine Arts in Houstin, Texas.