Eugène Delacroix

Delacroix spent time in the Jardin des Plantes and the Paris Museum of Natural History alongside his friend, the animalier Barye, sketching living and preserved specimens of exotic animals. The animals formerly seen in the royal menagerie were housed in a zoo in the public gardens, accessible to all, reflecting the democratic society that arose following the revolution. The death of a famous lion in the summer of 1829 permitted Delacroix and Barye to undertake close study. This experience carried over into the artist's depictions of other large cats, and the pose of a tiger in several drawings, including the present watercolor, was developed from the study of the dead lion. This close study yielded several works devoted to big cats between 1828 and 1830, including an etching with a profile depiction of a "Tiger Lying at the Entrance of Its Lair," and a lithograph titled "Tiger Royal," which shows the animal in reverse, with a three-quarters view of its face, set in front of a mountainous landscape.
This watercolor, which bears Delacroix's signature, differs from the print and the lithograph in the details but likely dates from around the same moment, ca. 1829-30. In his many depictions of animals, Delacroix sought to capture the essence of the beast--its body, the way it moves--rather than a naturalistic description. The tiger rests watchfully; the structure of its body, the bones of its haunches and spine, undulate in harmony with the mountains in the distance. In earlier depictions of the tiger, the animal's right hind foot juts out underneath his body, while his tail is shorter. Here Delacroix has positioned the tiger somewhere between being at rest and crouching. A replica of this sheet is in the National Gallery, Washington (1943.3.3375). Executed in watercolor with the artist's name inscribed at lower left in an unknown hand, it raises several questions. Was Delacroix producing multiple finished versions for the market or for collectors? Or were his watercolors later available to others for copying?