Henri Fantin-Latour, Pt. 6

"Snapdragons" by Fantin-Latour

 "Although Henri Fantin-Latour lived on till 1904, the last two really formative events in his life took place a quarter of a century previously in 1876."

First, and apparently on impulse when he was suddenly offered some tickets, he travelled to Bayreuth to hear some of the first performances of Wagner's completed 'Ring Cycle.' Secondly, in November of the same year, he married Mlle Dubourg, [whom he had met while copying the same painting, 'The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine,' at the Louvre some years earlier]. "

"As the years went by he became more and more reluctant to venture out of his own habitual environment, until at last not even the prospect of a Wagner performance at the Opera would tempt him to endure the discomforts of a large public gathering."

"Though music still played a large part in stimulating his creative imagination, he was content to rely on memories of what he had heard, refreshed by the piano transcriptions which were sometimes played by friends."

To be continued...

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