Born Ignace-Henry-Jean Theodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) in Grenoble Rhone-Alpes France, he was a French painter and lithographer. He is noted for his still life, flower paintings and portraits of self and group of friends. Fantin-Latour was also a lithographer who created ingenious lithographs demonstrating the music of some of the great classical composers and contemporary French celebrities in the field of arts. Fantin-Latour’s father, Theodore Fantin-Latour, was a portrait painter and teacher of drawing.

In the Company of Well-known Painters

When he was 5, Fantin-Latour’s family moved to Paris in 1841. He leant from his father and started drawing from an early age. Later, from 1850 through 1854, Fantin-Latour studied drawing at the school of Lecoq de Boisbaudran. He worked for a short period under Courbet in his studio. Fantin-Latour started copying the works by masters in the Louvre and he lived mainly by copying during the next 10 to 12 years. He also met many well-known painters such as Degas, Manet, Berthe Morisot in the Louvre. He became friends with artists like whistler, Alphonse Legros and formed the Societe des Trois.

Away From Impressionists Despite Friendship

In 1859, Whistler invited Fantin-Latour to London where he became associated with the artistic circle with the help of Alphonse Legros and amateur engraver Edwin Edwards. When the Salon de Paris rejected one of his portraits, he turned his attention to still-life painting. In 1864, Fantin-Latour exhibited his works at the Royal Academy and became popular for his flower paintings. Through some of his painter acquaintances, he found a patron in Edwin Edwards, a wealthy man who supported Fantin-Latour for years by purchasing his still life paintings. His first exhibition at the Salon in Paris took place in the year 1861. Fantin-Latour displayed his painting ‘Feerie’ at the Salon des Refuses in 1863. Even though he maintained close contact with most of the Impressionists during these years, he refused to accept their theories. He never took part in their exhibitions.

Back in Paris, Fantin-Latour remained in close touch with the artistic community who regularly met at the cafes. He was spending his time in the studio of Manet and he painted the portraits of a number of artists there. Manet appreciated the works of Fantin-Latour and reciprocated by featuring Fantin-Latour and other artists from the group in his painting ‘Music in the Tuileries’. As he grew older, Fantin-Latour started less time at the artist cafes, preferring the old acquaintances. He began experimenting with lithography, the technique that he leant from Whistler’s brother-in-law and painting mythological scenes.

Rich Gallery of Portraits of Eminent Personalities

According to Madame Fantin-Latour’s catalogue, Fantin-Latour left a treasure of twenty-three self-portraits. His portrait groups include eminent personalities including artists, poets and musicians. ‘Hommage to Delacroix’ (1864), ‘The Toast’ (1865), ‘A Studio in the Batignolles’ (1870), ‘At the Table’ (1872), ‘Round the Piono’, (1885) are some of the portraits that made up his gallery. His still-lifes and portraits are in the traditional styles of the old masters. His works strongly influenced the later symbolist painters, such as Odilo Redon. Fantin-Latour received the ‘The Legion d’Honneur’ medal in 1879. Fantin-Latour devoted the last leg of his life primarily to lithography. He exhibited ‘L’Anniversaire’ in the 1876 Salon in honour of the composer Hector Berlioz. Thereafter, he exhibited his lithographs regularly at the Salon.

Some of his famous paintings are, ‘Flowers and Fruit on a Table’ (1865), ‘Vase of Peonies’, ‘A Basket of Roses’ ‘Large Vase of Dahlias and Assorted Flowers’, ‘White Phlox, Sumer Chrysanthemum and Larkspur’, ‘Dahlias, Queens Daisies, Roses and Corn Flowers’, ‘Nasturtiums’, ‘Still Life – The Corner of a Table’, (1873), ‘The Corner of a Table'(1872), ‘Bouquet of Roses’, ‘Holly-hocks’