Signed at lower margin in pen and brown ink, "Eug. Delacroix".
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 93, repr.
Denison, Cara D. et al. The Thaw Collection : Master Drawings and New Acquisitions. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, no. 70.
Watermark: none.
Goethe's Faust was first published in Germany in 1808 but soon became a European phenomenon. That Delacroix would have been drawn to the work and its moral complexity is no surprise; he produced a series of illustrations that appeared in an 1828 French edition of the play. While his designs were under way, he received Goethe's approbation: "The French censure him for his wildness, but it suits him well here. ... I must confess that M. Delacroix has, in some scenes, surpassed my own notions." -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"
Newhouse, Jill, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.