Nature morte, grosses fraises et roses

This exquisite painting by Fantin-Latour displays his mastery of the still life genre, presenting us with delicately placed roses accompanied by a bowl of glistening and mouth-watering strawberries. The crisp, frosted whites and pastel pink hues of the rose petals as well as the deep red tones of the fruit visually evoke strawberries and cream, creating a harmonious palette which connects the visual to the sensory tastebuds. The freshly picked berries are in their blushing prime and Fantin-Latour has imbued this composition with the promise of more roses via the buds and green leaves beneath the large white rose. What a sweet and meticulously executed piece which serves as a testament to Fantin-Latour’s attention to detail and eye for floral and natural subject matter.

The artist would regularly take inspiration from works at the Louvre, familiarising himself with the European Realist painterly tradition through artists such as Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699-1779). Commencing with still life compositions in the decade of the 1860s, Fantin-Latour later focused particularly on floral arrangements, often utilising high value contrasts such as neutral, brown backgrounds to enhance the bright hues and powerful brushstrokes of the flowers and fruits. Such subject matter becomes the protagonist of his paintings, infused with a dynamic quality and often occupying a powerful position in the foreground of his work. This is reminiscent of another key genre in Fantin-Latour’s oeuvre, that of portraiture, replacing the figures here with blossoming natural motifs.

Fantin-Latour has placed this composition on the precipice of the table edge; the pink rose facing the viewer directly as it threatens to cascade down from the wooden ledge. The rapidity of the artist’s brushstrokes combined with the impasto texture of the rose petals accentuate the energy of this delightful work. One can retrace the flick of Fantin-Latour’s short brushstrokes in the green flecks surrounding this pink rose. We are reminded of the consonance of natural subject matter via the symmetry of the palette and the framing of the green stems for both the strawberries and flowers.
The first owner of the work was Mrs Edwin Edwards, the wife of the English lawyer Edwin Edwards who would go on to become one of Fantin-Latour’s most loyal patrons and essentially his English dealer, purchasing many of his still life works. The pair first met in London in 1859 via the sister of James McNeill Whistler. This artistic circle shared a fascination for music and Fantin-Latour was greatly inspired by composers such as Wagner and Berlioz. The artist echoes the mellifluousness of their opuses in this delectable Nature morte, grosses fraises et roses.