Henri Fantin-Latour

(French, 1836-1904)

Roses

Footnotes

Provenance
Sir Harry Veitch (1840-1924)
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (bequeathed by the above in 1924)
Sale, Christie's London, 22 October 1954, lot 63
with The Fine Art Society Ltd., London
Private collection, UK

Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1890, no.651
Exeter, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, 1924, no.62

Literature
Mme. Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Fantin-Latour, 1849-1904, Paris, 1911, p.145, no.1376
E. Hardouin-Fugier and E. Grafe, French flower painters of the 19th Century: A dictionary, Ghent, 1989, p.198, listed as 1,376, roses dans une bassine

While Fantin-Latour's portraits and Symbolist works cemented his reputation in his native France, it was in England that his flower paintings found huge popularity. Described as 'the 19th Century French flower painter par excellence' ¹, Fantin-Latour made his first visit to England in 1859, where he frequently stayed with his friends and patrons Ruth and Edwin Edwards in Sunbury. He exhibited prolifically at the Royal Academy Summer exhibitions, where he showed 81 works between 1862 and 1900, the vast majority of which were flower studies. He also exhibited flower pieces at the RSBA. Another important patron was James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), whom Fantin-Latour met in 1858; through Whistler, he was introduced to British collectors such as Constantine Alexander Ionides, who purchased several works from the artist (now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

It seems entirely appropriate that a work of such a 'doctrinaire naturalist' ², would end up in the collection of the pre-eminent horticulturalist of the 19th Century, Sir Harry James Veitch. Born in Exeter, Veitch was instrumental in establishing the Chelsea Flower Show and became the first horticulturist to be given a knighthood. Veitch amassed a large collection of 19th Century art and objects, which was bequeathed to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter on his death in 1924.

Fantin-Latour's flower pieces are thought to comprise some 500 works, and are represented in many major art collections and galleries throughout the world.

¹E. Hardouin-Fugier and E. Grafe, French flower painters of the 19th Century: A dictionary, Ghent, 1989, p.194
²E. Lucie-Smith, Fantin-Latour, Edinburgh, 1977, p.11