Delacroix and the Rise of the Modern Art opened to the public on Wednesday – but how have critics reacted to it?
London Loves Business: Harry Cockburn said that: “Visitors are treated to a fascinating narrative journey through Delacroix’s impact on those who knew him and who followed him.”
Evening Standard: ***** Matthew Collings wrote: “Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art deserves five stars for exquisiteness, concentrating as it does on smallish and unfamiliar works, whose power is all the greater for being compressed.”
Blouin Art Info: Mark Beech thought: “While Delacroix was undoubtedly an influential figure whether he was quite the fountainhead that the exhibition suggests is no so clear cut.”
Londonist: ***** Tabish Khan commented: “But the true star of this show is Delacroix, in what is easily the best exhibition we’ve seen this year.”
The Guardian: *** Jonathan Jones was less enthusiastic saying: “The real problem with this exhibition is that it fails to communicate the sensationalism and excitement of Delacroix himself.”
The Telegraph: **** Mark Hudson found the exhibition: “features stunning works by some of the greatest artists of the past 150 years, most of which you probably won’t have seen before, and fully demonstrates its daring thesis that Delacroix was one of the most influential painters of his century. ”
Time Out: **** Martin Coomer wrote: “So, Delacroix – he’s the cool uncle of nineteenth-century art, encouraging his charges to behave badly and madly. If that isn’t quite the show’s message, it’s a whole lot of fun to behold.”
London Visitors: “This is a fascinating exhibition that provides plenty of evidence that the work of Delacroix has generally been overlooked in the United Kingdom in the past fifty years and that his influence on later generations as been underplayed.”
The Upcoming: **** Thomas Unsted found that: “The argument the exhibition makes for the influence of Delacroix is highly convincing and impressive; articulating the connection between his work and early 20th century painting through direct parallels makes this both an intellectually and aesthetically engaging display.”
Love London Love Culture: “The National Gallery’s exhibition examining the influence of Eugene Delacroix on other artists is absorbing and detailed from beginning to end.”
Overall Verdict: an exciting and fascinating exhibition displayed by the National Gallery that celebrates the work of an undervalued artist.
Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art is on display at the National Gallery until the 22nd May 2016.