Henri Fantin-Latour

Mr. & Mrs. Edwin Edwards, London
Sale: Christie's, London, June 27, 1903, lot 75
Colnaghi & Obach, London (acquired at the above sale)
Blair Laing Galleries, Toronto
Samuel Sair, New York (and sold: Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York, December 9, 1959, lot 58)
Wildenstein & Co., New York (probably acquired at the above sale; purchasing agent "W." Linah)
Benno & Nancy Schmidt, New York (acquired from the above in 1963)
By descent from the above in 1999

Madame Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'oeuvre complet de Fantin-Latour 1849-1904, Paris, 1911, no. 753

The canvas is adhered to a wooden panel which is sound. The original stretcher and tacking edges have been attached to the reverse of the panel. There is a thin stable web of craquelure throughout the background. There is a tiny loss at the extreme upper right corner. Under UV light: the varnish layer is somewhat difficult to read through. There are areas which fluoresce around the thicker brush strokes but appear to be pooling varnish and not restoration. Likewise, some fluorescing in the background appears related to uneven varnish. The work is in 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.

Painted in 1875, Petites roses exemplifies the style of work that garnered financial and critical success for Henri Fantin-Latour. These expertly crafted still lifes, which Fantin-Latour perfected over the three decades preceding his death in 1904, were already highly coveted by the 1870s due to the agency of English collectors Edwin and Ruth Edwards. This success allowed Fantin-Latour to devote himself fully to the meticulous execution and technique of his works, rather than subject himself to the demands of the market. Such commitment to academic technique was only deepened by the passing of two of the artist’s heroes in early 1875: Jean-François Millet and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. Ultimately, Fantin-Latour’s dedication to his craft would produce some of the great examples of trompe l’oeil painting of the late nineteenth century.

As Edward Lucie-Smith observes, “He looked at flowers, as he did at faces, with no preconceptions. 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" (Edward Lucie-Smith, Henri Fantin-Latour, New York, 1977, pp. 22-23).

The same tall glass vase or similar glasses appear in other paintings of roses by Fantin-Latour from the early 1870s, and indeed the vessel seen in the present work appears to be the same as in a similar painting of roses belonging to the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University (see fig. 1). Fantin-Latour seems to have preferred stemmed and fluted glasses in the 1870s while bowls, baskets and wide-mouthed vases are more common in the 1880s.