Henri Fantin-Latour, Pt. 8

"Portrait of Leon Maitre" by Fantin-Latour

 
"Henri Fantin-Latour did not consider himself to be a really good portrait painter, because he found it difficult to reconcile himself to sitters whom he did not know intimately. He painted many self-portraits, making a remark about them which has often been quoted: 'It is a model who is always ready and it offers all sorts of advantages; it is exact, submissive, and one knows it before painting it.'

This summarizes his attitude towards sitters in general: on the one hand he wanted people who, in his terms, would 'pose well,' as passively and uncomplainingly as bowls of fruit and vases of flowers; and on the other he needed a certain intimacy of friendship. It is for this reason that the majority of his portraits are of members of his family, or else of close friends, such as Manet, Leon Maitre and Adolphe Jullien."

In general, Fantin's self-portraits are something of a psychological puzzle. Most are small, and the majority date from the earlier part of the artist's career. Yet they do not seem to be repeated acts of self-interrogation. Rather, we get a hint of the truth in Fantin's own statement about them, which suggests that his own face in a mirror was something he could look at as objectively as he did an apple on a plate. But one or two hint at a sudden unease about the act of confrontation which would be all of a piece with his notorious social timidity."

To be continued...

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