Henri Fantin-Latour facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Henri Fantin-Latour
Self-portrait (1859), Museum of Grenoble
Born	(1836-01-14)14 January 1836 Grenoble, France
Died	25 August 1904(1904-08-25) (aged 68) Buré, France
Resting place	Cimetière du Montparnasse
Nationality	French
Education	École des Beaux-Arts
Movement	Realism, symbolism
Spouse(s)	Victoria Dubourg

Henri Fantin-Latour (born January 14, 1836 – died August 25, 1904) was a French painter. He was also a lithographer, which means he made prints using a special stone or metal plate. He is most famous for his beautiful paintings of flowers. He also painted group portraits of artists and writers in Paris.

Fantin-Latour's Early Life
Painting Flowers and Still Lifes
His Unique Art Style
His Lasting Impact
Gallery
Public collections
See also

Fantin-Latour's Early Life

Henri Fantin-Latour was born in Grenoble, France. His father, Théodore Fantin-Latour, was also a painter. Henri learned drawing from his father first. In 1850, he moved to Paris. There, he joined a small art school. He studied with teachers like Louis-Alexandre Péron. He also learned from Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran. This teacher had a special way of teaching. He taught students to paint and draw from memory.

In 1854, Henri entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. This was a famous art school. He met other future artists there. These included Edgar Degas and Alphonse Legros. After art school, he spent a lot of time at the Musée du Louvre. He copied paintings by old master artists there. Fantin-Latour became friends with artists like James McNeill Whistler and Édouard Manet. These friends later became known for Impressionism. But Fantin-Latour's own painting style stayed more traditional.

In 1861, he spent a short time in the studio of Gustave Courbet. Courbet was a famous painter. Fantin-Latour painted many self-portraits early in his career. He used chalk, charcoal, and oil paint. One of his self-portraits was not accepted for an art show in 1859. But his painting La Liseuse was shown in 1861.

Fantin-Latour was part of a group called the Cénacle des Batignolles. This group formed around 1863. It was important because Impressionism started from it. Some people saw him as a link between this new art and older romantic painting.

In 1862, one of his still life paintings was shown in London. It was at the Royal Academy. This was the first of many shows for him there. He showed paintings in London almost every year. These paintings were very popular. He visited England several times. He found good success selling his art there.

Painting Flowers and Still Lifes

Fantin-Latour met American painter James MacNeill Whistler in 1858. Whistler encouraged him to visit London. Fantin-Latour stayed in London many times between 1859 and 1881. In the 1860s, he focused on still life paintings. These paintings became very important in his career. A "still life" is a painting of objects that do not move. These often include flowers or fruit.

Fantin-Latour became well-known in England for his flower and fruit paintings. At that time, French Impressionist art was not yet popular in England. People said his still life paintings were "practically unknown in France" during his life. Through Whistler, he met Francis Seymour Haden and Edwin Edwards. Edwards was an engraver. Fantin-Latour learned how to make engravings in London.

His choice to paint still lifes might seem surprising. This was because Impressionism was becoming popular. But painting still lifes was a special choice. In the 17th century, art schools ranked different types of paintings. Still life paintings of fruit or flowers were seen as less important. By focusing on them, Fantin-Latour went against the traditional rules of art. His English supporters, Edwin and Ruth Edwards, advised him. They told him to use simple vases and tables. This helped show his great skill in painting textures and colors.

Fantin-Latour's still life paintings were also very popular in the Netherlands. In 1889, one of his rose paintings sold for a lot of money in Amsterdam. Dutch art dealers sold his works until the 1930s. Many of his paintings are now in Dutch museums. These include the Rijksmuseum and the Kröller-Müller Museum.

His Unique Art Style

Fantin-Latour's first paintings were rejected from art shows in 1859. After that, he started showing his art with friends. These friends included Édouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. In 1865, he wrote that artists needed to group together. This helped them get noticed.

In 1867, he joined the Japanese Jinglar Society. This group had nine members. They included painters like Carolus-Duran. They also included ceramists like Bracquemond. They met for dinners in a Japanese style.

Fantin-Latour made group portraits special again. These paintings were like big statements. Some famous ones are:

Homage to Delacroix (1864)
A Studio at Les Batignolles (1870), which honored Manet
The Corner of the Table (1872), which honored poets like Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud
Around the Piano (1885), which honored musicians

In A Studio at Les Batignolles, Manet is painting in the middle. He is surrounded by other important artists and writers. These include Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Emile Zola, and Claude Monet. This painting shows Fantin-Latour's connections. He was friends with the leading artists and writers of his time. It also shows how much he respected Manet.

Besides his realistic paintings, Fantin-Latour also made creative lithographs. These were inspired by classical music. In 1876, he saw a performance of Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. He found it very moving. Later, he made lithographs inspired by Wagner. These were published in a magazine called La revue wagnérienne. This helped him become known as an anti-naturalist painter. This meant he painted more from imagination than from real life.

In 1876, Fantin-Latour married Victoria Dubourg. She was also a painter. He spent his summers at his wife's family home in Buré, France. He died there on August 25, 1904. Like many painters, he used photography for his work. He was buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.

His Lasting Impact

His first big art show in the UK in 40 years happened in 2011. It was at the Bowes Museum. The Musée du Luxembourg had a show of his work in 2016–2017. It was called "À fleur de peau."

One of his paintings, A Basket of Roses, became famous in a different way. It was used as the cover for the band New Order's album Power, Corruption & Lies in 1983. The graphic designer Peter Saville chose it.