Eugène DELACROIX wants to discover the Indian bayadères.

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863)

Autograph letter signed to the painter Louis Godefroy Jadin.

Two pages in-8°. Autograph address and postmarks on the 4th ^sheet .

Paris. August 19 [1838]

“Dauzats promised to show me the bayadères…”

Passionate about the Orient and exoticism, Delacroix absolutely wanted to discover the Indian bayadères who came to perform in Paris.

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“My dear Jadin, Dauzats had promised to show me the bayadères [sacred Indian dancers] before my departure. I don't know his address but as if you write it to me it will be lost time before I too can write to him, would you be good enough to write to him yourself on my behalf to remind him. I'm leaving on Wednesday without fail. So there is no time to lose. I fear I will be away too long to find them when I return and I am extremely anxious to see them. So I'm waiting for news from him, trusting in what he made me hope for . (…) But Wednesday, the term is short . Farewell and a thousand friendships. Ugh. Delacroix. »

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From 1838, the custom of bringing troupes of Indian dancers for lovers of exotic art spread in Europe. Théophile Gautier will also cover the report on the arrival in France of a troupe of dancers and musicians from Pondicherry. This same troupe will perform for eighteen months in France, including three weeks in Paris, during the summer of 1838, at the Théâtre des Variétés: “these dazzling bayadères whose bodies announce a strength and a purity of blood unknown in our civilization” make sensation in the capital.

Adrien Dauzats (1804.1868), orientalist painter from Bordeaux and faithful friend of Delacroix, was one of his executors. It was this same Dauzats who invited Delacroix to participate in the Salon des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux, from 1851 to 1862.

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Bibliography:

. The stages of the Indian presence in France. C. Servan-Schreiber / V. Vuddamalay. 2007.

. Delacroix. Newspaper. 1822-1863. Editions Plon. 1996.