Eugéne Delacroix (French, 1798 – 1863) Street in Meknes, 1832 Oil on canvas, 18 x 25" Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery Elisabeth H. Gates and Charles W. Goodyear Funds, 1948

Imagine that you are in a country where no one from the United States has ever been before. You have never seen anyone like the people you meet, and they have never seen anyone like you. How might you feel?

Eugéne Delacroix (del-uh-kwah) was excited about his trip to Meknes, which at that time was the capital city of the country of Morocco, in northern Africa. No one from France had ever been allowed inside the city of Meknes before, and the group he was traveling with received permission to look around. It was dangerous, however, so he had to hire a bodyguard to go with him. He walked all over the city, drawing scenes he saw and people that he met. Later, when he was back at home in France, he used the sketches and notes that he took to create paintings about Meknes, its people, and its buildings. Why didn't he just use a camera?

Mr. Delacroix probably didn't see this exact scene; he most likely combined several drawings to make it as interesting as possible. Look at each of the four people. Except for the man who is asleep in the alcove, they all look right out of the picture at us. What do you think each person is thinking? People in France were very interested in what people were like in exotic places, but travel was often difficult. That is one of the reasons why Mr. Delacroix's paintings were so popular--through his art, he could take people to places they'd never been before and probably would never go! Who does this job in our society today? Looking at this painting, would you want to go to Meknes? Why or why not?