Henri Fantin-Latour

John Phillip, London (commissioned from the artist in 1865 and sold: Christie's, London, May 31, 1867, lot 30)

Stuart Smith, Scotland (acquired at the above sale)

Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd. (The Lefevre Gallery), London (acquired by 1957)

Mrs. A. E. Pleydell-Bouverie, London

Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd. (The Lefevre Gallery), London

Mrs. Aaron M. Weitzenhoffer, Oklahoma

Private Collection, United States (acquired by descent from the above)

Sale: Christie's, New York, November 4, 2003, lot 3

Acquired at the above sale 

London, Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd. (The Lefevre Gallery), XIX and XX Century French Paintings,1957, no. 8, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Fleurs varies)

Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais; Ottawa, National Gallery of Canada & San Francisco, California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fantin-Latour, 1982-83, no. 31, illustrated in the catalogue (titled Fleurs de printemps avec une tasse et une soucoupe)

The present picture, with its exceptional crispness and startling realism, demonstrates the power of Fantin-Latour’s exquisite still-lifes. His depictions of flowers, fruit, crystal and porcelain number among the great examples of trompe l'oeil painting of the late 19th century. Collectors throughout Europe marveled at the extraordinary clarity and perfection of detail in these still-lifes, which Fantin painted in the three decades preceding his death in 1904. Fantin-Latour's floral still-life paintings were first exhibited in London at the Royal Academy in 1864. The paintings of the 1870s were marked by a purity and simplicity of composition, whereas the still-lifes of the 1880s were constructed with a more complex and detailed arrangement. 

Because of the extraordinary eye for detail that he had developed as a portrait painter, the artist was capable of seeing each flower with remarkable specificity. According to Edward Lucie-Smith, "His belief, academic in origin, that technique in painting was separable from the subject to which the artist applied it, enabled him to see the blooms he painted not as botanical specimens, but as things which, though not necessarily significant in themselves, would generate significant art upon the canvas. At the same time, the naturalist bias of the milieu in which he had been brought up encouraged him to try and give a completely objective description of all the nuances of colour and form which he saw in the bouquet he had arranged" (E. Lucie-Smith, Henri Fantin-Latour, New York, 1977, pp. 22-23).  

In his review of the Salon of 1889, Émile Zola described the artist's work as follows: "The canvases of M. Fantin-Latour do not assault your eyes, they do not leap at you from the walls. They must be looked at for a length of time in order to penetrate them and their conscientiousness, their simple truth - you take these in entirely, and then you return" (ibid., p. 37).