Henri Fantin-Latour

Mrs. Edwards, London
Gustave Tempelaere, Paris
Thomas Wallis & Son., London
E.J. Van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam
Dr. H.K. Westendorp, Amsterdam
Wilhelm Weinberg, Scarsdale, New York (and sold: Sotheby & Co., London, July 10, 1957, lot 23)
F. Partridge, London (acquired at the above sale)
S.A.R.  Maharanée Seethadevi Gaekwar de Baroda (and sold: Paris, Palais Galliera, November 30, 1961, no. 5)
Mrs. Simone Hettena
Sale: Christie's, London, November 27, 1964, lot 24
Sale: Christie's, London, December 3, 1965, lot 67
Sidney R. Rabb Collection, Boston
Thence by descent

London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1893, no. 792, illustrated in the catalogue p. 792
Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Huinck & Scherjon, Fantin-Latour, 1935, no. 39
Paris, Galerie André Weil, 1958, n.n.

Madame Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Fantin-Latour, Paris, 1911, no. 1475, p. 156

The canvas is not lined. A close inspection reveals some minor old frame abrasion along the extreme lower left edge, barely visible when framed, and some very minor stable hairline shrinkage in the white pigment of the petals. Under UV light: there is a varnish which impedes a thorough examination but some faint fluorescence along the edges suggests some inpainting to cover old frame abrasion and a few strokes of retouching to the stem of the loose flower, the edge of the vase and the tips of the leaves beneath the main bouquet. This work is in overall very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

During his second trip to England in 1861, Fantin-Latour painted numerous quick sketches of flowers and fruit that delighted his hosts, Ruth and Edwin Edwards. Upon his return to Paris he planned to devote more time to painting still lifes, believing they might prove to be more marketable than his portraits. Edwards acted as his agent, and the following year American expatriate painter James McNeill Whistler purchased several of Fantin-Latour's still lifes, commissioning others for his English clientele. Despite growing success in London, there was little response to the first still life he exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1866. His reputation spread quietly, however, among a small circle of painters and critics in the Batignolles group associated with Edouard Manet. The critic Zacherie Astruc wrote in 1863, "In order to reveal this painter's talent in all its freshness, charm and strength, one must—after a thorough consideration of his large pictures turn to his flower paintings, so highly regarded in the art world. These are marvels of color and artistic sensibility. They are as compelling as they are charming, in fact one may even call them moving. There are tonal rhythms, freshness, abandon, surprising vivacity. Their beauty captivates. This is nature with all that fleeting radiance that is the fate of flowers... Delicacy of expression being the essence of his art, Fantin seems to be the visual poet of flowers" (quoted in Douglas Druick and Michel Hoog, Fantin-Latour (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1983, p. 114).

By the mid-1880s Fantin-Latour at last achieved success and popularity in France. In fact, he became so successful by the mid-1890s that he no longer depended on sales in England. Marcel Proust offers testament to the artist's reputation at the time in his novel Le Temps retrouvé—the final volume of his monumental A la recherche du temps perdu, published posthumously in 1927—describing fictional painter Elstir as "the artist who is cited by connoisseurs today as our leading flower-painter, superior to even Fantin-Latour" (trans. Andreas Mayor and Terence Kilmartin, The Past Regained, London, 1981, p. 34). Proust could correctly presume that his readership would know Fantin-Latour's stature as the pre-eminent still-life painter of the era.

 

Fig. 1 Jan Brueghel the Elder, Still Life with Tulips, Roses and Irises in an Unpainted Clay Vase, and a Brooch, Ring and Beetle on a Ledge, oil on panel, Sold: Sotheby’s, London, December 5, 2012, lot 35, for $1,102,716 USD