Eugène Delacroix (1798 Charenton-Saint-Maurice - 1863 Paris) Two drawings with a man lying on his back and an Arab head in profile These two studies belong to the important oeuvre of drawings by Delacroix, the founder of Oriental painting. During a trip to North Africa to Morocco and Algeria in 1832, Delacroix filled seven sketchbooks with around 1000 drawings, watercolours and notes. Until his death, these served as the basis for his preoccupation with the Orient and for 80 masterpieces of Oriental painting, including the famous painting "The Women of Algiers" from 1834 (in the Louvre since 1874). Watercolour and pencil/paper, mounted on paper. R. and estate monogram stamp "E.D" in red (Lugt 838a). 5 cm-6.7 cm x 3.9 cm-10.6 cm. Provenance: Estate of Eugène Delacroix, auctioned at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 17-27 Feb. 1864; German private collection, acquired in the late 1950s/early 1960s in the art trade, since then in family possession. Two pencil drawings on paper. Estate monogram stamp "E.D" in red ink (Lugt 838a).