Henri Fantin-Latour, Pt. 5

"Poppies," 23.6" x 20.94" (60 cm x 53.2 cm)
in the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia

 "1870 marks a distinct break in Henri Fantin-Latour's career - a thing true of many other people in France, though Fantin was more fortunate than most. He lived through the siege of Paris and then, before the bloody fighting of the Commune had broken out, received a visit from Edwin Edwards, who promptly took a great deal of unsold work off his hands and thus enabled him to survive the crisis financially."

"It proved to be the beginning of a more definite and regular business arrangement with Edwards and his wife which gave Fantin, if not riches, then at least a kind of financial security which was unknown to many of his contemporaries. The Edwards saw to it that Fantin was regularly shown at the Royal Academy and this helped to build up his growing English reputation."

"At the same time, though at first only very gradually, Fantin started to withdraw from the kind of artistic life which had hitherto nourished him. Not that he was ready to leave it altogether, though it is significant that his two final group portraits represent, not painters, but in the one case writers, and in the other musicians."

"The last group portrait, 'Around the Piano,' was not painted until 1885. The composer Emmanuel Chabrier sits at the keyboard, and around him are grouped a number of other men who belonged to the 'Wagnerian' wing of the Paris musical world. By the time this was painted, Fantin's manner of life had almost completely changed, and he was a fully accepted and respected academic artist who had been awarded the Legion of Honour in 1879."

"Around the Piano" by Henri Fantin-Latour

To be continued...

 
(Excerpts are from "Henri Fantin-Latour" by Edward Lucie-Smith.)