Hidden for 160 years, painting by French romanticism master Delacroix to sell at auction

Record ID: 1984353

  • Title: Hidden for 160 years, painting by French romanticism master Delacroix to sell at auction
  • Date: 21st March 2025
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 20, 2025) (REUTERS) DE LUSSAC SPEAKING WITH PAINTING EXPERT DE LUSSAC (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH AUCTIONEER, MALO DE LUSSAC, SAYING: "I was offered a quick coffee to relax the atmosphere a bit. We had that coffee in the living room of this property. And in that living room, the painting you see behind me was on the wall. I kept looking at it although
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Eugene Delacroix French Master
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Art,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA002039320032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:A painting by French romantic Master Eugene Delacroix that has resurfaced after 160 years is about to go on sale at an auction in Paris.
    Kept within the same family for more than 150 years since the posthumous sale in the artist’s studio in 1864, the previously unknown and unpublished artwork will be auctioned off in Paris on March 28.
    The painting, titled "Etude de Lions Couches" ("Study of Lying Lions"), is estimated to reach up to 300,000 euros.
    The oil painting, a study by Delacroix which depicts seven lions, had been dormant for all that time.
    It was French auctioneer Malo de Lussac who stumbled upon it after being called in for an inventory at a property in the Loire Valley in central France.
    De Lussac said Delacroix spent time at the Menagerie du Jardin des Plantes where many exotic animals can still be seen today.
    Within Delacroix’s bestiary, wild beasts, particularly lions, held a prominent place according to De Lussac. Fascinated by great felines, the French romanticism painter, most well-known for "La Liberte Guidant le Peuple," produced numerous works throughout his career, including in the final years of his life, on the theme of lions.
    Many scholars have interpreted this fascination as a projection of the artist himself, who was famously known for his intense, passionate and even untamed nature, De Lussac said.
    (Production: Lucien Libert)
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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