Delacroix painting of george sand and chopin

1838 unfinished painting by Eugène Delacroix

The Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand was an 1838 unfinished oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Eugène Delacroix.

He made a number of preparatory sketches before 1838, a more detailed one of Chopin alone and another, more coarse one of the two.^[2][1] Later he painted it originally as a double portrait, which was later cut in two and sold off as separate pieces.

It showed the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (1810–49) playing the piano while the writer George Sand (1804–76) sits to his right, listening and sewing (a favourite activity of hers). The sitters were lovers at the time, and both were close friends of the artist.^[3]

The portrait remained in Delacroix's studio until his death.

Shortly after, it was cut into two separate works, both of which are tightly focused. Chopin's portrait comprises only a headshot, while Sand's shows her upp