Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand

Delacroix's unfinished double portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand of 1837 was originally a single canvas later cut in two, depicting the composer and novelist who were among his closest friends. Chopin's face — angular, intense, and expressive of his complex relationship with ill-health and creativity — was left incomplete at Delacroix's death and subsequently separated from Sand. The painting documents the creative community of Romantic Paris where painters, musicians, and writers constituted a mutually sustaining social world. Delacroix was a skilled amateur musician who found in Chopin the musical equivalent of his own pictorial ideals.

The loosely painted figures emerge from a dark background with Delacroix's characteristic warm palette and fluid brushwork. The portrait conveys psychological intimacy through the informal poses and sensitive rendering of the sitters' expressions.