Quote from artist and writer Eugene Delacroix: “The idea of flowers is a struggle with time.”

I had to write fast so that I could complete painting a bouquet before it withered; so rapidly, in fact, that the main painter of the French romantic school, Eugene Delacroix, quickly became an Impressionist.

It was the work of an impressionist who could paint with a light touch, working quickly but meticulously.

Look at these zinnias, for instance; these are typical of the flowers that Delacroix depicted in his paintings.

The artist depicted the flower buds as brightly lit by the sun, while leaving the leaves and stems in the shade.

And, as you get closer to the ground, the shadow becomes thicker and more saturated…

Zinnia petals appear to be trembling, and their bright oblong leaves appear to be writhing as if alive.

Zinnias, painted with great precision, appear to us to be real…

When Delacroix was a mature artist, he began writing still lifes.

And he was particularly fond of floral still lifes – bright and delicate at the same time, airy but extremely tangible…

The artist saw the ideal of romantic beauty in flowers, with their strict but harmonious appearance, which he glorified in his historical paintings.

Take a look at this flower bouquet.

It is placed in a simple white vase, alongside which are fruits…

We see fruits while also failing to see them.

We can’t see it because the entire picture is taken up by…flowers.

Exotic lilies and pensive bells, delicate dahlias, airy lefkoi, and the majestic queen of flowers – rose…

Pink is close to blue, white is close to dark green, almost black…

Everything is organic, organic, lively…

According to the writer George Sand, Noan Eugene Delacroix began painting his still lifes on her country estate.

Indeed, the artist remarks in one of his letters to his girlfriend: “… Give a friendly bow from me to all the trees of the lovely Noan, which is lovely because you live there. You already know how much I adore gardens and flowers. Maybe that’s why I adore you: no one has captured the divine nature like you….”

Isn’t it possible to argue with this?

Although George Sand left wonderful literary descriptions of blossoming gardens, it was Eugene Delacroix who happened to capture them in color.

He wrote out the petals, leaves, and stems with incredible precision, giving them the sophistication of openwork weaving, the smoothness of expensive silk, the velvety vintage dresses…

His flowers are always lovely.

What a diverse range of species, and what a riot of colors! ..

And how this bouquet fits into the artist’s baroque interior: elegant furniture, heavy curtains, massive gilded frames… the artist plays with styles, merging them, then replacing one with another.

His still life transforms into a wonderful genre painting, where flowers appear to us as… people.

The art of still life was studied by well-known impressionists and post-impressionists who replaced the classics of painting.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne, and others were among them.