A Horse Hitched to a Post
Eugène Delacroix·c. 1820
Historical Context
Delacroix's A Horse Hitched to a Post from around 1820 is an early study that reveals his lifelong fascination with equine anatomy and the expressive possibilities of the horse as a subject. Before his first major Salon success with Dante's Bark (1822), Delacroix was developing his drawing and painting vocabulary through careful study of horses in motion, stillness, and various states of alertness. The horse would become central to his most ambitious historical and Romantic subjects — charging cavalry, rearing stallions, animals in combat — and this early study documents the observational foundation of those later achievements. Géricault's influence is visible in the direct anatomical observation and the interest in the horse as a vehicle for physical and emotional energy.
Technical Analysis
Delacroix renders the horse with sensitive observation of its anatomy and posture. The warm palette and fluid brushwork capture the animal's physical presence with characteristic directness. The loose, confident handling suggests rapid execution from life, with the paint applied with the bold, gestural strokes that define Delacroix's approach.
Provenance
(Delacroix posthumous sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 1864, no. 84); Etienne-François Haro [1827-1897]; his son, Henri Haro [1855-1911]; Haro family; (sale, Neuilly-sur-Seine, 22 February 1934, no. 13).[1] Dubourg collection; acquired 1959 by (Wildenstein & Co., New York);[2] sold 1960 to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Virginia; gift 1994 to NGA. [1] Provenance from Lee Johnson, _The Paintings of Eugène Delacroix: A Critical Catalogue_, 6 vols., Oxford, 1981: 1:228, M3. [2] Wildenstein date and source of acquisition according to a letter dated 14 December 1998, in NGA curatorial files. This may be Jacques Dubourg (1897-1981), an art dealer in Paris from the late 1920s.
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