Henri Fantin-Latour: 11 works

'Fantin-Latour was a fellow-student of Auguste Rodin, James Tissot and Leon Lhermitte. Among his friends were Whistler, Frederick Leighton (later Lord Leighton), Manet and several of the leading Impressionists.'

'Dubourg, the wife of the painter Henri Fantin-Latour, specialized in portraits and floral or fruit still lifes.'

'Henri Fantin-Latour was associated with the early Impressionists, socialising with other artists such as Manet, with whom he remained friends until Manet's death in 1883.'

'Alongside his work as a portrait painter, Fantin-Latour produced a large number of still lifes.'

'In the 1860s Fantin-Latour's friends, Manet, Monet, Renoir and many others began to create still-life paintings, and there is a considerable connection between Manet's still-lifes and Fantin-Latour's in terms of motifs and compositions.'

'Fantin-Latour was by no means an impressionist himself, and some of his fantasy pictures tend more towards symbolism; yet even at its most academic, his touch has the evanescence, the softness, we associate with someone like Manet.'

'Fantin-Latour, a quiet observer of this period, has gathered around Manet, presented as the leader of the school, a number of young artists with innovative ideas: from left to right, we can recognise Otto Schölderer, a German painter who had come to France to get to know Courbet's followers, a sharp-faced Manet, sitting at his easel; Auguste Renoir, wearing a hat; Zacharie Astruc, a sculptor and journalist; Emile Zola, the spokesman of the new style of painting; Edmond Maître, a civil servant at the Town Hall; Frédéric Bazille, who was killed a few months later during the 1870 war, at the age of twenty-six; and lastly, Claude Monet.'

'Grande dame' He paints her almost life-size as a 19th century 'grande dame', characterized more by her stately pose and fine clothing than by an abundance of luxury.'

'Fantin-Latour was fascinated with the world of the artist and produced both lifelike portraits of his Impressionist contemporaries and imaginative works exploring themes of creativity, inspiration, and vision.'

'Henri Fantin-Latour was a student of the famous painter Gustave Courbet and, like him, is considered one of the realists.'

'As opposed to his somber hued portraits, Fantin-Latour's conceptual works are filled with rich colors and movement-filled brush work.'