Study of a Horse

c. 1825–30

Study of a Horse, c. 1825–30. Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863). Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper; image: 17.1 x 24 cm (6 3/4 x 9 7/16 in.); sheet: 21 x 28.2 cm (8 1/4 x 11 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.128 Eugène Delacroix repeatedly depicted horses throughout his career, visiting stables to observe the animals at rest and in motion. This sheet is likely one such example made from life. Delacroix loosely sketched the horse's form, concentrating on the tension of its front legs and leaving the rest of its body loosely rendered. Through such exercises, the artist hoped to eventually master this subject. Although Eugène Delacroix created a realistic representation of a horse in this drawing, the animals sometimes served as symbols for the conflict between man and nature in his work.