05/30/2026
" Roses and Lilies" - (1888) - Ignace-Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836 - 1904)
Now that is a name, my friends!
Henri Fantin-Latour was a French painter, printmaker, and illustrator noted for his still lifes with flowers and his portraits, especially group compositions, of contemporary French celebrities in the arts. Fantin-Latour’s first teacher was his father who was well-known portrait painter. Though he did receive a formal education, it was Dear Old Dad that got Henri started.
Fantin-Latour was independent in style. He had numerous friends among the leading French painters of his day, including J.-A.-D. Ingres, Eugene Delacroix, Camille Corot, Edouard Manet, and Gustave Courbet. His portrait groups, often arranged in rows of heads and figures like 17th-century Dutch guild portraits, are perhaps most interesting for their portrayal of various literary and artistic persons of the time.
Fantin-Latour’s flower paintings were particularly appreciated in England, where, through James McNeill Whistler and Sir John Everett Millais, Fantin-Latour found a patron in Edwin Edwards. A wealthy amateur engraver, he supported Fantin-Latour for years by purchasing his still lifes.
Beautiful indeed.