Rose Bowl
White and Pink Roses by Henri Fantin-Latour, Private Collection.
A friend of the Impressionists Manet and Bazille, in his early career Fantin-Latour was part of the traditional academic salon. He loosened his brush strokes after he came to know the Impressionists and their techniques.
posted by Martha at 3:17 PM
3 Comments:
I don't want to be nit-picky; I really like your blog, and I think it is a great way to spread art knowledge. That said, Manet was not an impressionist. The impressionists came about after a critic mocked Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" at the Salon des Refuses. After that, Degas, Monet, Pisarro, etc. formed an art group called the "Impressionists" and invited Manet to join. He was still interested in becoming a part of the academy at the time, so he turned down their invitation. So even though he painted in a similar style to 'impressionism,' it is incorrect to group him w/ the "impressionists."
Again, this is nit-picky, and does not particularly diminish anything you have said in your blog, but it is something my art history teacher was very adament about clarifying!
While what your teacher has pointed out is very true, I did not really say he was an "Impressionist," I said "a friend of the Impressionists" and I do think your teacher would have to concede that his work became looser after he began to associate with the painters who are now grouped as "Impressionists."
I appreciate you taking the time to comment. This is what I consider the beauty of Art History, there is no right or wrong.
Although Manet never exhibited with the Impressionists, he influenced the group and could be considered their leader. Fantin Latour very much looked up to Manet. He painted The Batignolles Studio in homage to Manet. Manet is shown painting while others artists stand by looking, including Monet, Renoir, and Frederic Bazille. The painting demonstrates Manet's influence over these artists. (Fantin Latour also did a portrait of Manet which you can see at the Chicago Art Institute.)
Manet did have a strong influence on Fantin Latour's painting, but because of his temperament and training, he never came to fully embrace the bold, direct manner and techniques used by the Impressionists including painting out of doors. He prefered the old masters technique of scumbling and glazing. His paintings have much in common with Chardin, whose work he knew well and admired in the Louvre. If you look closely at a Fantin Latour painting in a museum, however, you'll see that, despite there being a certain level of detail, that the brushstrokes do have a lively, free quality as opposed to a smooth polish like you might find in say, a painting by Ingres.
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