Crouching Tiger
1839
Eugène Delacroix, the master of French Romanticism, captures the raw, coiled energy of a predator in this fierce sketch. The tiger is hunched low to the ground, its mouth agape in a silent snarl, with bold, sweeping brushstrokes defining its powerful stripes and muscles. Delacroix was obsessed with capturing the untamed spirit of exotic animals, often visiting the Jardin des Plantes zoo in Paris to sketch lions and tigers from life. This quick, energetic study shows how he prioritized movement and emotion over perfect detail, a hallmark of the Romantic movement that rebelled against the stiff rules of classical art.
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