Henri Fantin-Latour
1836-1904
A Corner of the Table (Un Coin de table)
1872
5 1/2 x 8 3/8 inches (141 x 213 mm)
Pen and brown ink on tracing paper, mounted down completely.
1980.78
Gift of James H. Heineman.
Notes
This curious drawing in ink on tracing paper records the composition of one of Fantin-Latour's ambitious group portraits, an 1872 canvas devoted to the poets who formed the Parnassus group. The painting Un Coin de table is now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, depicts from left to right, seated: Paul Verlaine, Alfred Rimbaud, Léon Valade, Ernest d'Hervilly and Camille Pelletan, and standing behind them, Elzéar Bonnier, Emile Blémont and Jean Aicard. The picture had a complex genesis, and two small drawings in the Louvre and a letter sketch are among Fantin-Latour's preparatory material for the canvas.
The author of this sketch recording the composition added numbers and a key to identify the group gathered around the table, a handy reference when the work was shown in the annual Salon exhibition in 1872. Although on tracing paper, the drawing may have been done freehand rather than replicating a printed image of the painting.
The author of this sketch recording the composition added numbers and a key to identify the group gathered around the table, a handy reference when the work was shown in the annual Salon exhibition in 1872. Although on tracing paper, the drawing may have been done freehand rather than replicating a printed image of the painting.
Inscriptions/Markings
Inscribed in pen and brown ink at upper left, "Coin de table / Salon de 1872"; at upper right, "1 P. Verlaine / 2 A. Raimbaud [sic] / 3 L. Valade / 4 E. d'Hervilly / 5 Camille Pelletan / 6 E. Bonnier / 7 E. Blémont / 8 Jean Aicard"; key numbers 1 to 8 within the design.
Watermark: none.
Watermark: none.
Associated names
Rothschild, Alexandrine de, former owner.
Heineman, Hettie, 1890-1974, former owner.
Heineman, James H., former owner.
Heineman, Hettie, 1890-1974, former owner.
Heineman, James H., former owner.
Bibliography
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Nineteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1978-1980. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981, p. 189.
Artist
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Catalog link
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