Skip to main content

Eugène Delacroix, 'Louis-Auguste Schwiter', 1826-30

About the work

Delacroix painted this portrait of fellow artist, Louis-Auguste Schwiter (1805–1899), in the early years of their lifelong friendship. Not only was this Delacroix’s first full-length portrait, but it also reveals the close attention he paid to work by British artists such as Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788) and Thomas Lawrence (1769–1830). These portraits marked a departure from a more formal, heroic style of portraiture whose primary function was often the display of wealth and social status. The use of outdoor locations, such as parks and woodlands, was an important aspect of this new portraiture and Delacroix makes effective use of the dark sky and foliage to highlight areas of bright colour and, perhaps, to hint at Schwiter’s personality. Delacroix submitted the portrait to the Salon of 1827, but it was rejected. It was later bought by Edgar Degas (1834–1917) for his own collection.

Key facts

Full title
Louis-Auguste Schwiter
Artist
Eugène Delacroix
Artist dates
1798 - 1863
Date made
1826-30
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
217.8 × 143.5 cm
Inscription summary
Signed
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1918
Inventory number
NG3286
Location
Central Hall
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
18th-century French Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Eugène Delacroix

Abel Widmer
Abel Widmer
Eugène Delacroix
This lively and engaging portrait shows Abel Widmer (1805–1838), a pupil at the Institution Saint-Victor, a secondary school for boys in Paris. It was probably painted around 1824, the year Widmer won the school’s annual prize. It is most likely the first of a series of ten portraits of the prize...
Not on display
Christ on the Cross
Christ on the Cross
Eugène Delacroix
Delacroix depicts a moment from the Crucifixion, recounted in the Gospel of John (19: 25–30), when Christ speaks to his mother, the Virgin Mary, and one of his disciples, John, just before he dies. Christ’s mother, dressed in blue and yellow robes, collapses into the arms of Mary Cleophas and Joh...
Room 38
Ovid among the Scythians
Ovid among the Scythians
Eugène Delacroix
In AD 8 the Roman poet Ovid, author of the poem Metamorphoses, was banished for life by the Emperor Augustus to the port of Tomis on the coast of the Black Sea. At that time, this region was inhabited by the Scythians, nomadic warrior-tribes who originally came from the area now known as southern...
Not on display