The joy of Delacroix

He has taught at the school every fall semester since he retired from the English department of Queens College of the City University of New York in 2006.

Stone also curates a dozen themed exhibitions to show the works he has donated. They're on display in rotation at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology on Peking University's campus.

And the body of Delacroix's works is of special significance.

Stone first donated 13 lithographs on which Delacroix illustrated William Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, in 2007.

He showed all of them at the first exhibition of prints he curated at the Sackler Museum, titled The Inspiration of the Poet.

Afterward, Stone bought and donated more prints by Delacroix, mostly lithographs, as well as four drawings and one watercolor. This collection of Delacroix's works is at the heart of an ongoing exhibition, Minstrel of the 19th Century, which runs through Sept 13.