FANTIN-LATOUR, Henri

HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR
French 1836
Fantin-Latour was born in Grenoble in 1836. His father, Théodore Fantin-Latour was a portrait painter and taught drawing. In 1841 his family moved to Paris. Henri started drawing at an early age, taught by his father. From 1850 to 1854 he studied drawing at the school of Lecoq de Boisbaudran. After a short period at the Ecole des Beaux–Arts, he worked temporarily in Courbet’s studio. From 1853 onwards he regularly copied works by the old masters in the Louvre and for 12 years lived mainly by copying. He met Degas in the Louvre in 1855, Manet in 1857 and Berthe Morisot in 1858. In 1858, Henri Fantin-Latour became friends with Whistler and the two artists, along with Alphonse Legros, formed the Société des Trois. In 1859 Whistler invited him to visit London, where through Alphonse Legros and the amateur engraver Edwin Edwards he became widely associated with the artistic community. By 1864 Fantin-Latour was exhibiting at the Royal Academy. He first exhibited at the Salon in Paris in 1861, and in 1862 along with Manet, Legros, Whistler and Jongkind he joined the Société des Aquafortistes. Although he knew many of artists who were members of the Impressionist group, Fantin-Latour never took part in their exhibitions and continued to paint in more traditional styles .
In 1879 Henri Fantin-Latour was awarded the Legion d’Honneur.

'Hector Berlioz. Sa Vie et Ses Oeuvres' by Adolphe Jullien (BOOK)