1686. STUDY OF FLOWERS.
Henri Fantin-Latour (French: 1836-1904).
Ignace Henri Jean Théodore Fantin-Latour was born at Grenoble, the son of a famous pastellist. He first exhibited at the Salon in 1861. In 1864 his "Hommage à Delacroix" created a sensation. In this country, where he was a constant exhibitor at the Royal Academy, he is best known for his exquisite studies of roses and other flowers. But he was also a painter of portraits (see No. 1952) and of romantic subjects inspired by his musical tastes. In portraiture, a thorough, though a sympathetic, realist (witness his "Monet's studio at the Batignolles" in the Luxembourg),—he becomes fanciful when he enters the domain of romance. A favourite medium was lithography, in which he excelled; the British Museum has a fine set of proofs. His subjects are taken from the motives used in the musical dramas of Wagner and Berlioz.
Late summer flowers, chiefly roses, in a vase on a wooden table. The background, as usual with this painter, is of a flat tone of warm gray.