NARRATOR:
Henri Fantin-Latour produced most of his famous flower still lifes during summers at his country home in Normandy. He often depicted native plants, such as these mallows of 1895.
The simple bouquet is placed informally on a table, its green leaves and delicate white and pink petals set off against a neutral background. On the left, the table's plain edge emphasizes the austerity of the setting. Notice the reflections on the vase and the flowers' subtle modeling in light and shade. As one contemporary critic observed, Fantin-Latour approached his still lifes with the sensitivity of a portraitist:
CRITIC [ACTOR]:
"He studied each flower, its grain, its tissue, as if it were a human face."
NARRATOR:
The son of a Russian mother and a French artist, Fantin-Latour learned the art of painting from his father. Copying the old masters at the Louvre, he was profoundly influenced by the realist still lifes of 17th-century Holland.
Although friendly with some of the most progressive painters of the day, including Monet and Whistler, Fantin-Latour chose not to exhibit with them. Instead, he regularly showed his work at the official Salon, favoring crisp, realist definition over the Impressionists' emphasis on the atmospheric and accidental. The delicate synthesis of vibrant color and simple composition you see here was the hallmark of his style.
White and Pink Mallows in a Vase
1895
Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904)
On View
Although he painted everything from group portraits to scenes from Wagner’s operas, Fantin was best known for his floral still lifes, which found a ready middle-class market in France, England, and the United States. This arrangement of flowers, likely cut from the artist’s own garden and beginning to wilt in the heat, is a particularly fine example. Fantin’s technique in pictures like this one adheres to an academic standard of finish, but the artist maintained close ties with Manet and the Impressionist avant-garde.
Details
- Artist Name: Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (French, 1836-1904)
- Title: White and Pink Mallows in a Vase
- Date: 1895
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 21x 19-1/2 in. (53.3 x 49.5 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.2003.1.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
The artist, sold to;
Mrs. Edwin Edwards, London; sold by 1911 to;
John Postle Heseltine (1843-1929), London.
[J. B. Bennett & Son, Glasgow].
William A. Cargill, Carruth, Bridge of Weir, Scotland (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 11 June 1963, lot 25, ill.).
[Hallsborough Gallery, London, by 1965, to;]
[Acquavella Galleries, New York; sold by 31 October 1967 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation (F.1967.3.1.P), sold 2003 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Mrs. Edwin Edwards, London; sold by 1911 to;
John Postle Heseltine (1843-1929), London.
[J. B. Bennett & Son, Glasgow].
William A. Cargill, Carruth, Bridge of Weir, Scotland (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 11 June 1963, lot 25, ill.).
[Hallsborough Gallery, London, by 1965, to;]
[Acquavella Galleries, New York; sold by 31 October 1967 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation (F.1967.3.1.P), sold 2003 to;
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
From Butinone to Chagall, Fine Paintings and Drawings of Six Centuries
- London, Hallsborough Gallery, 1965-05-12 to 1965-07-23
Flowers by Fantin-Latour: An Exhibition Organized for the Benefit of the Boys' Club of New York
- New York, Acquavella Galleries, 1966-11-02 to 1966-12-03
[on loan]
- Fullerton Library, 1968-01 to 1970-01
[on loan]
- Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1971-05 to 1972-10
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969-01 to 1972-09
Three Centuries of French Art: Selections from The Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art and The Norton Simon Foundation_1
- California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1973-05-03 to 1976-06-15
Significant Objects: The Spell of Still Life
- Norton Simon Museum, 2012-07-20 to 2013-01-21
- Apollo, p. lxxiv
- Fantin-Latour, Victoria Dubourg, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet (1849-1904) de Fantin-Latour, 1911, no. 1595
- Wykes-Joyce, Max, Amateur Artist, 1966, p. 12
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, p. 125
- Brettell, Richard R. and Stephen F. Eisenman, Nineteenth-Century Art in the Norton Simon Museum, volume 1, 2006,
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 398 p. 293
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