Camille Corot

popular name: Eugène Delacroix

date_of_death: August 13, 1863

age: 65

cause_of_death: Throat infection

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school. In contrast to the Neoclassical perfectionism of his chief rival Ingres, Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modelled form. Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic. Delacroix was trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and quickly gained attention for his dramatic, expressive style. His breakthrough came with the painting La Barque de Dante (1822), which was showcased at the Salon and received acclaim for its bold use of color and intense emotion. This set the stage for other iconic works, such as Liberty Leading the People (1830), a powerful allegorical depiction of the July Revolution in France. Delacroix's use of vivid colors, dynamic compositions, and passion in his works became a hallmark of Romanticism. Throughout his career, Delacroix was inspired by literature, history, and contemporary events, drawing from sources like Shakespeare, Byron, and the Bible. His works often depicted intense emotions, dramatic landscapes, and scenes of violence and heroism. He was also influenced by the art of the Dutch Masters and the emerging techniques of the Impressionists, though he remained primarily associated with the Romantic tradition. Delacroix's later years were marked by a move toward lighter, more fluid compositions. Though he never embraced the academic style of the time, he remained a prominent figure in French art circles. His legacy deeply influenced generations of artists, including the Impressionists, particularly in terms of color theory and the expressive use of brushwork. He died at his home in 1863, leaving behind a legacy as one of the great masters of 19th-century art.

popular name: Nusch Éluard

date_of_death: November 28, 1946

age: 40

cause_of_death: Stroke

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Nicknamed “Nusch” by artist Max Bill, she was a French performer, model and surrealist artist. In 1930 she met the poet Paul Éluard working as a model. They married him in 1934. She produced surrealist photomontage and other works, and is the subject of “Facile,” a collection of Éluard’s poetry published as a photogravure book, illustrated with Man Ray’s nude photographs of her. Later she was the subject of several cubist portraits and sketches by Pablo Picasso in the late 1930s with whom she had an affair. Nusch worked for the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II and died suddenly in 1946 in Paris, collapsing in the street due to a massive stroke.

popular name: Siné

date_of_death: May 5, 2016

age: 87

cause_of_death: Surgery for lung cancer

claim_to_fame: Artists

best_know_for: Siné was a controversial French cartoonist and caricaturist whose early successes in this arena led him into the fields as a book illustrator and designer of posters, stage decors, animated cartoons and publicity films. Siné began his professional career as a retoucher for pornographic magazines and published his first cartoon in France Dimanche in 1952 which won the Black Humour Award for his cartoon collection 'Complainte sans Paroles' in 1955. Siné became especially famous for his wordplay cartoons about cats. Until 1962, he made political cartoons for L'Express, some of which were refused or caused heavy criticism. He subsequently published his anti-colonial, anti-zionist, anti-capitalist and anti-clerical worldviews in his own publication, Siné Massacre. Siné's anarchistic and anti-colonial cartoons have caused controversy on several occasions during his career, especially during the Algerian war. He was fired from Charlie-Hebdo in 2008, following a antisemitic cartoon on Jessica Sebaoun-Darty, the wife of Jean Sarkozy. In August of 2008 he announced his own satirical weekly, called Siné Hebdo, launched with his wife Catherine Sinet and about 15 contributors. The publication ran until April 2010, but was continued as Siné Mensuel in September 2011. Siné has additionally made many drawings for books about jazz music, as well as CD covers.