In 1832, Eugène Delacroix accompanied a French diplomatic mission to Morocco, the first leg of a journey through the Maghreb and Andalusia that left an indelible impression on the painter. This comprehensive, annotated English-language translation of his notes and essays about this formative trip makes available a classic example of travel writing about the “Orient” from the era and provides a unique picture of the region against the backdrop of the French conquest of Algeria.
Delacroix’s travels in Morocco, Algeria, and southern Spain led him to discover a culture about which he had held only imperfect and stereotypical ideas and provided a rich store of images that fed his imagination forever after. He wrote extensively about these experiences in several stunningly beautiful notebooks, noting the places he visited, routes he followed, scenes he observed, and people he encountered. Later, Delacroix wrote two articles about the trip, “A Jewish Wedding in Morocco” and the recently discovered “Memories of a Visit to Morocco,” in which he shared these extraordinary experiences, revealing how deeply influential the trip was to his art and career.
Never before translated into English, Journey to the Maghreb and Andalusia, 1832 includes Delacroix’s two articles, four previously known travel notebooks, fragments of a recently discovered fifth notebook, and numerous notes and drafts. Michèle Hannoosh supplements these with an insightful introduction, full critical notes, appendices, and biographies, creating an essential volume for scholars and readers interested in Delacroix, French art history, Northern Africa, and nineteenth-century travel and culture.
“Eugène Delacroix’s journey to Morocco in 1832 was one of the defining artistic moments of the nineteenth century, and it is brought to glorious life by Michèle Hannoosh’s compilation and translation. This work chronicles the artist’s journey and provides exceptional insights into his fascination with the ‘Orient’ and his motivations as a painter.” —John Zarobell, author of Empire of Landscape: Space and Ideology in French Colonial Algeria
“Michèle Hannoosh’s 2009 edition of Delacroix’s journal contained a wealth of new information about an artist known for his brilliant insights as well as his magnificent works. Here she reveals to us Delacroix’s direct experience, lasting memories, and recognition of his new way of seeing. Hannoosh’s work is an inestimable contribution to our understanding of this great artist and of the nineteenth century.” —Beth S. Wright, author of Painting and History During the French Restoration
“Delacroix scholars know Michèle Hannoosh through her stunning discoveries of unpublished Delacroix texts, her impeccable editions of his writings, and her compelling interpretations of his work. This volume reveals her to be a superb translator as well. It will be an invaluable resource for students, teachers, or simply admirers of Delacroix's work. The introduction and commentary provide crucial new insights for experts, and Hannoosh's translations are eminently readable, marvelously capturing the varying tone of Delacroix's prose, which ranged from direct observations to stylish commentary and from bitter sarcasm to genuine enthusiasm.” —David O'Brien, author of Exiled in Modernity: Delacroix, Civilization, and Barbarism
“In this welcome and timely book, Hannoosh presents the first comprehensive, annotated English translation of Delacroix’s important and often cited multifarious observations of his voyages to the Maghreb and Andalusia. The translation is clear, crisp, and elegant as well as faithful to the artist’s original. The voice and thought of Delacroix are made vividly manifest in this splendid translation.” —Dorothy Johnson, author of David to Delacroix: The Rise of Romantic Mythology
“Hannoosh’s unfailingly elegant translation and annotation are greatly enriched by her deep research into the wider social and aesthetic universe through which Delacroix moved, traveled, experienced the world, and thus refined his artistic sensibilities. This book is a visual and textual delight, and it contributes immeasurably to long-standing debates in art history and the historical sciences about ‘Orientalist’ representations of peoples and cultures on the Mediterranean’s southern shores.” —Julia Clancy-Smith, author of Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migration, c. 1800-1900
“Hannoosh’s unfailingly elegant translation and annotation are greatly enriched by her deep research into the wider social and aesthetic universe through which Delacroix moved, traveled, experienced the world, and thus refined his artistic sensibilities. This book is a visual and textual delight, and it contributes immeasurably to long-standing debates in art history and the historical sciences about ‘Orientalist’ representations of peoples and cultures on the Mediterranean’s southern shores.”
—Julia Clancy-Smith, author of Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migration, c. 1800–1900
