Eugène DELACROIX and his painting of Liberty Leading the People.

Eugène DELACROIX (1798.1863)

Autographed letter signed to the art critic Jules-Joseph Arnoux.

Two octavo pages. Champrosay. June 9 (no date)

"You were kind enough to give me the two articles from La Liberté."

Delacroix did not want to see Théophile Thoré removed from the Fine Arts section of the newspaper Le Constitutionnel . He took the opportunity to thank Arnoux for two articles devoted to Liberty Leading the People .

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“My dear friend, however sincere my desire may be to do something that would please you, I cannot approach Véron. [Théophile] Thoré, having learned of your wish and not having responded, which would have been easy for him, seems to me to leave his withdrawal from contributing to the newspaper uncertain. Perhaps, not having anticipated the refusal to work for the Constitutionnel, he will only renounce it if it is explicitly stated to him, and frankly, it is impossible for me to contribute to this being done. My regret at not being able to be of service is compounded by my regret at not having clarified this matter with you immediately when I saw you; but I was quite overwhelmed by the number of things I had to do before leaving and I didn't think things through. You were kind enough to give me the two articles from La Liberté. I hardly need to tell you that the one you wrote about my Salon found me very grateful.” This only increased my regret. Therefore, I thank you and ask you not to take my refusal, which I hope will not surprise you too much, the wrong way. Sincerely yours, Eug. Delacroix.