"Eugène Delacroix (1798 - 1863) was one of the greatest French painters of his period. Passionately opposed to the sterile conventions of David and the other academic artists, he took up again the broken threads of great Baroque style and created a long run of masterpieces. But even if he had never put brush to canvas, he would still live as one of the most exciting and expressive diarists of all ages and countries. Delacroix's Journal is one of the great documents in art history, a magnificent work of literature as well as a vital documentary source for scholars and students. In it the artist discusses his own paintings, his life, his sorrows, and hopes; the paintings and sculptures of Rubens, Michelangelo, Constable, Bonington and others; old and new literature and the music of Mozart, Rossini, and Chopin; the events of his time; the beauties of nature; life in foreign countries. Throughout he never loses his grip on the reader, though it seems that he wrote himself only and never thought of being read. The resulting unselfconscious spontaneity and freshness give the work its unique quality, both as literature and as a source of insight into the mind of a great artist." -- from interior flap. Edited by Hubert Wellington. Translated by Lucy Norton. Organized chronologically in two parts - part I consists of 1822 - 24; 1832; and part 2 consists of writing between 1847 - 1863. Includes notes, chronological table, bibliography, index, 80 black-and-white illustrations, and a guide to the illustrations.