Delacroix's Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi

(Los Angeles, October 29, 2014)—The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) presents Delacroix’s Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi, featuring the monumental painting, on view for the first time in Los Angeles. Painted in 1826 by Eugène Delacroix, the leading French Romantic painter of the day, Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi is one of the most celebrated French paintings of the 19th century. The work is held in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux, France, and has seldom traveled.

“This exhibition is an extremely rare opportunity to showcase a masterwork by one of the 19th century’s most important painters,” said Leah Lehmbeck, curator of European Painting and Sculpture at LACMA. “The picture itself is profoundly rich with political, cultural, and artistic detail, and therefore speaks to a range of issues through its engaging dramatic context.”

The exhibition focuses on the singular painting with works from LACMA’s permanent collection to supplement the painting’s narrative. Delacroix’s Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi is organized in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Los Angeles’s sister-city relationship with Bordeaux.

Image credit:

Eugéne Delacroix, La Gréce sur les runies de Missolonghi, 1826, Photo © Musée des Beaux-Arts-mairie de Bordeaux. Cliché F. Deval

Exhibition: Delacroix's Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi On View: November 16, 2014–February 15, 2015 Location: Ahmanson Building, Plaza Level