Scanned from a transparency, then color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Portrait of Léon Maître

Artist Henri Fantin-Latour (French, 1836 - 1904)

Date1886

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 51 3/4 x 38 3/4 in. (131.4 x 98.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 62 1/2 x 49 1/2 in. (158.8 x 125.7 cm)

ClassificationsEuropean art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.509

Terms

Man
Leon Maitre
Black
Brown
Tan
White
Academic

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting. The sitter, dressed in a black frock, is placed starkly against a luminous brown backdrop. He holds his top hat, a pair of yellow gloves and his gold-tipped walking stick--the fashionable accessories of the late-nineteenth-century Parisian gentlemen.

Label TextHenri Fantin-Latour French, 1836–1904 Portrait of Léon Maître, 1886 Oil on canvas Does this portrait belong in a gallery of Impressionist paintings? The austere realism, darkly clad subject, and dim interior setting contrast sharply with the light, brushy landscapes nearby. Moreover, the artist was an outspoken critic of the Impressionists, dismissing them as mere “dilettantes who produce more noise than art.” Nonetheless, Henri Fantin-Latour maintained close friendships with many Impressionist artists, and although his work seems relatively conservative, he developed a unique style by applying the restrained manner of the old masters to his modern subjects. Notice how he artfully uses the sitter’s angled cane, soft gloves, top hat, and white cuff to subtly enliven his composition. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.509