Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour, 1836 Grenoble -... Lot 645

Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour, 1836 Grenoble - 1904 Buré FLEURS oil on canvas. 45.8 x 38.5 cm. Signed and dated "Fantin 1862" at upper left. In a baroque gilded frame. According to the consignor, this painting will be included in the Supplément to the catalogue raisonné which is currently being prepared by Brame & Lorenceau, Paris. Against a black background, a glass vase, only recognisable by a few reflections, stands out, its essence receding and only used as a causal reason for the cohesion of the manifold and yet delicate bouquet of flowers it contains. Especially the delicate pink tones of the rose and the brilliant white of the wide blooming lily contrast against the dark background and are thus able to gain three-dimensionality. Particularly after 1860, the Grenoble-born painter turned to still life painting, which was widespread in England, where he frequently stayed. Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour was a French painter who was trained by his father, a portraitist. He continued his training at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, regularly visiting the Louvre where he copied great masters. Here he developed an enthusiasm for Venetian painting, especially that of Tiziano Vecellio (1485/89-1576) and Paolo Veronese (1528-1588). He made friends with Édouard Manet (1832-1883), Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) and later with James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), who took him to England and introduced him to a clientele that was enthusiastic about his still lifes, especially the flower still lifes. A friend of the realistic painter Gustave Courbet (1819-187) and the Impressionists, he nevertheless retained his own style and oriented his painting towards group portraits, the most famous of which are kept in the Musée d'Orsay. He later retreated to Buré in Normandy, where he devoted himself almost exclusively to the bouquets he picked in his garden. (†) Provenance: J.