Arab Horseman Attacked by a Lion
Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798–1863)1849–50
View the original$19
Type
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Man and beast intertwine to form a single writhing body in this emotionally charged depiction of a lion attacking a horse and its rider. Through short, energetic brushstrokes and carefully manipulated contrasts of light and shadow, Eugène Delacroix imbued this imagined scene with action and drama. While many artists of the period explored the theme of man versus nature, depictions of Arab men entangled with wild animals served a specific propagandistic function, justifying the brutality of French colonial rule by depicting its subjects as violent and inhuman.
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 43.9 × 38.1 cm (17 1/4 × 15 in.)
Museum record · 4 owners · 18 exhibitions
Provenance
- Baron Michel de Trétaigne, by 1864; his sale Hôtel Drouot, Paris, February 19, 1872, lot 19 as Cavalier arabe attaqué par un lion for 17,000 francs.
- Boucheron, by 1885.
- R. Austin Robertson (New York?), by 1892; his estate sale American Art Association, New York, April 8, 1892, lot 127 as Arab cavalier attacked by a Lion for $6,350 to Potter Palmer.
- Potter Palmer (died 1902), Chicago; his widow, Bertha Honoré Palmer (died 1918); by descent to their sons Honoré and Potter Palmer; given to the Art Institute, 1922.
Exhibitions
- Paris, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Œuvres d’Eugène Delacroix, 1864.
- Paris, École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Exposition Eugène Delacroix, March 6–April 15, 1885.
- Art Institute of Chicago, Loan Exhibition of Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings and Prints by Eugène Delacroix 1798–1863, March 20–April 20, 1930.
- Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1933.
- Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–November 1, 1934.
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Museum of Art, The Horse: Its Significance in Art, April 20–May 21, 1938.
- New York, M. Knoedler and Company, Gros – Géricault – Delacroix, November 21–December 10, 1938; traveled to Art Institute of Chicago, December 15, 1938–January 15, 1939.
- Portland Museum of Art, Eugène Delacroix, January 15–February 14, 1940, no cat. Arts Club of Chicago, Origins of Modern Art, April 2–30, 1940.
- Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Pendulum Swing from Classic To Romantic in French Painting, January 25–February 21, 1942, no cat. no. Richmond, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Nineteenth Century French Painting, January 18–February 20, 1944.
- New York, Wildenstein & Co., Eugène Delacroix 1798-1863: Loan Exhibition in Aid of the Quaker Emergency Service, October 18–November 18, 1944.
- Springfield Art Association, Illustration for Dante’s Divine Comedy, April 1945.
- Decatur Art Center, Masterpieces of European and American Art, May 4–25, 1945.
- New York, Paul Rosenberg & Co., Delacroix and Renoir, February 16–March 13, 1948.
- American Federation of Arts, travelling exhibition June 1948–June 1949, no cat. Saginaw Museum, Exhibition of Nineteenth Century French Painting, December 19, 1948–January 9, 1949.
- Carbondale, Southern Illinois University, A Festival of Fine Arts, February 26–March 10, 1956.
- Sarasota, Ringling Museum of Art, Palmer Family Collections, February 23–March 24, 1963.
- Paris, Louvre, Delacroix, Mar. 29-July 23, 2018; New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Se, 2018-Jan. 6, 2019.
- Denver Art Museum, Near East to Far West: Fictions of French and American Colonialism, Mar. 5-May 28, 2023.
