Henri Fantin-Latour

Bio

Henri Fantin-Latour was born to a father who had studied painting under the artist Benjamin de Rolland (himself a pupil of David); as a result, Henri received his first drawing lessons at home in 1846. The younger Fantin, a promising draughtsman, began studying at the Petite École de Dessin at fourteen, despite the school’s requirement students be fifteen years of age or older. The school’s training focused on developing a painter’s consummate skill –virtual memory; the intent was to enable a student to recall compositions and colors after the image was no longer before their eyes. By 1852 Fantin had supplemented these classes with regular copying in the Louvre (a discipline he practiced the entire span of his career) and en plain air painting (done at the encouragement of his colleague Lecoq). Fantin entered the École des beaux-arts after coming to the attention of older, established artists, such as Couture, while copying Titian’s Supper at Emmaus. The copy occupied Fantin for two years. His hours spent copying in the Louvre, however, resulted in invaluable introductions; Fantin met Manet, Degas, Morisot, Carolus-Duran and Whistler while in the museum’s galleries.