Livre de Croquis de Gabriel de Saint-Aubin Peintre

Eugene Delacroix, (1798-1863), France's leading Romantic painter, spent the summer of 1845 in Eaux-Bonnes, a little spa on the Atlantic side of the Pyrenees. Struck by the grandiose sight of the mountains incumbent on the Ossau valley, Delacroix reproduced the landscapes - amongst his best - with quick pencil sketches and, in some cases, with watercolors. In the same sketchbook, he drew the traditional costumes of the inhabitants. Finally, upon his return in Paris, alerted by the novelist George Sand, he discovered the Ojibwe tribe.

Eleven tribe members had been brought to Europe by American painter George Catlin, and Delacroix portrayed them on several pages of this album in moving sketches. The Carnet des Pyrenees was acquired by the Louvre in 2004 and classified as a 'national treasure'.

Book Features:

• This is the first complete reproduction of this important masterpiece by Eugène Delacroix, one of the major artists of the 19th century
• A quasi-facsimile reproduction (same size) of beautiful drawings at an affordable price, accompanied by throrough commentaries
• The series aims to present a number of albums with drawings by famous artitsts, all of which are held in the Louvre's collections

Text in French

128 colour, 8 b/w images
2 vols, 1HB, 1PB, slipcase

About the Author

Xavier Salmon is the director of the Prints and Drawings Department at the Musee du Louvre. He has curated many exhibitions and edited their catalogues. His book Fontainebleau. Le temps des Italiens was awarded the "grand prix de l'Academie Francaise" in 2014.