The National Gallery's Research Centre has a number of really wonderful books
including the first edition of Delacroix's 'Journal'.
It was first published in 1893, with the third volume coming out in 1895.
Delacroix was a tireless writer.
Not only did he keep his journal, he wrote articles on art
and was also a great correspondent.
So if you add all of his writings together, that comes to about a million words.
So he begins his diary on Tuesday, 3 September 1822
and he notes that he's very concerned to tell the truth.
But he also begun it on the anniversary of his mother's death
and he says that he hopes he wouldn't have to include anything that would make her blush.
And I think he really failed in this task, or certainly in the first half
of the journal, when he records various assignations with maids and models.
Delacroix first kept a journal as a young man, but from 1847 onwards
he keeps a much more comprehensive journal
where he's examining the problems of being an artist;
he's looking at different kinds of subject matter;
he's considering techniques.
So when they're published, the journals provide a kind of blueprint
for any young, aspiring artist to follow their artistic path.
One of the most exciting things
to emerge from the journals when they were first published
was what Delacroix planned to be a 'Dictionary of the Fine Arts'.
And as you can see on this page, even though it was a plan
it was clearly very well organised.
And one section is 'Grey and earth colours'
and he declares that 'Grey is the enemy of all painting'
and that 'all earth colours should be banished'.
Delacroix lived an extremely compartmentalised life.
He knew practically everybody worth knowing in Paris
but only revealed a tiny portion of himself to them.
What this really highlights for me is that
the journals are a companion to Delacroix.
He talks about in the early stages of the diary that
they're a way of calming his nervous excitement
and in the end he's kind of referring to them as his 'poor journals'
and they become poor journals when he hasn't kept them up
for a number of days or weeks.
Because of this, I think they were a companion to him
but they also become our companion to Delacroix
as an artist and as a personality.
They're still being published today and they offer
an unrivalled insight into Delacroix as an artist
but they're also just a really good read.
