Delacroix

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

EUGÈNE (-krwä'), a French painter, chief of the romantic school; born near Paris, April 26, 1799. At the age of 18 he entered the atelier of Pierre Guérin, and came under the influence of his fellow-pupil, Géricault. In 1822 he exhibited his first work, "Dante and Vergil," the novel force of which attracted much attention. In 1824, Delacroix, now at the head of the new school of young painters, produced the "Massacre of Scio," which was entirely repainted after the artist had studied a work of Constable's. The July revolution left its impress on Delacroix, and in 1831 appeared his "Liberty Directing the People on the Barricades." In 1832 he made a 307: voyage to Morocco. From this period. Delacroix continued to send forth picture after picture, besides decor public buildings and churches. He also executed a number of lithographs, including a series illustrating "Hamlet," and one dealing with "Faust". In 1857 he was chosen by the Institute to fill the place of Delaroche. He died Aug. 13, 1863. (del-a-gō'ä), in DELAGOA BAY southeast Africa, a large sheet of water separated from the Indian Ocean by the peninsula and island of Inyack. The bay stretches N. and S. upward of 40 miles, with a breadth of from 16 to 20 miles, and forms the southern extremity of the Portuguese settlement of Mozambique. It is available for vessels of large tonnage, though the presence of shoals, banks, and flats, renders the navigation of the bay somewhat intricate. The Olifants or Krokodil river, flowing into it, (is navigable for steam launches for a considerable distance; but there are swamps around the coast, and some malarial fever is prevalent. The Transvaal border begins 52 miles inland. In the course of the negotiations between Great Britain and Portugal as to the action of the latter power in East Africa, the claims of the Delagoa Bay Railway Company for compensation for the seizure of the line by Portugal on June 29, 1889, were brought foward. This was decided against Portugal (as announced March 29, 1900), damages of over $3,- 100,000 being awarded with interest from 1889. In September, 1900, a compromise of these claims was finally agreed to, the American claimants getting an aggregate of $500,000, out of which they were ordered to pay the costs of the United States Government. The extension of the line from the Portuguese frontier at Komati (which is 60 miles from the port of Lorenzo Marques) to Pretoria (Transvaal) was formally opened on July 8, 1895. The extension is the property of the Netherlands South African Railway Company, and places Pretoria by rail 350 miles from the coast, and Johannesburg 400 miles. The distance from the latter city to Cape Town by rail is 1,013 miles.