Paintings by Henri Fantin-Latour

Henri Fantin-Latour (1846-1904) was a French Impressionist painter and lithographer. He was a student of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was influenced by the symbolist movement.

Although he created some ingenious lithographs, Henri Fantin-Latour is best known for his portraits of Parisian friends, who all belonged to new movements of the French artistic and intellectual elite.

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In this article, you can read about and see two of Henri Fantin-Latour's famous Impressionist portraits:

Go to the next page to learn more about Impressionism, Henri Fantin-Latour, and Edouard Manet. For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:

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Portrait of Edouard Manet by Henri Fantin-Latour

Henri Fantin-Latour's Portrait of Edouard Manet is an oil on canvas (46-1/4 x 35-1/2 inches) that belongs to The Art Institute of Chicago.

Henri Fantin-Latour conceived his Portrait of Edouard Manet (1867) to present the artist as a respectable man of his times. Impeccably dressed and with a reserved demeanor, this depiction of Edouard Manet countered the wide-spread perception of him as a renegade that had been promoted in the conservative art press. In fact, Manet never regarded himself as a revolutionary -- it was his choice to pose as a bourgeois gentleman -- but he insisted that his art reflect the image and interests of his own society.

Henri Fantin-Latour was not the only young Impressionist artist to be inspired by and in awe of Manet's genius, which is evident in the group of people portrayed in his painting A Studio in Batignolles Quarter. Go to the next page to learn about this work.

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For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:

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A Studio in Batignolles Quarter by Henri Fantin-Latour

A Studio in Batignolles Quarter by Henri Fantin- Latour is an oil on canvas (80-3/8 x 107-5/8 inches), which can be seen at Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.

In his group portrait, A Studio in Batignolles Quarter (1870), Henri Fantin-Latour honored Manet's influence on a new generation of artists. Edouard Manet, seated at his easel, is painting a portrait of the artist and critic Zacharie Astruc. The tall figure standing behind Astruc's chair is Frederic Bazille; Claude Monet can be seen at the far right behind him. Pierre-Auguste Renoir stands in the center, and the critic Émile Zola is to his immediate left.

For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debra N. Mancoff is an art historian and lecturer and the author of numerous books on nineteenth-century European and American paintings. She is a scholar in residence at the Newberry Library.

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