Fellow Men: Fantin-Latour and the Problem of the Group in Nineteenth-Century French Painting

390 Pages·2012·69.941 MB·English

by  Bridget Alsdorf

Fellow Men

Fellow Men
Fantin-L atour
and the Problem
of the Group
in Nineteenth-C entury
French Painting
Bridget Alsdorf
Princeton University Press
Princeton & Oxford
Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton,
New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
Jacket Art: Henri Fantin- Latour, (1836-1904). Detail of Corner of a Table
(Coin de table), 1872, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Oil on canvas, 160 × 225 cm.
A group portrait of, from left, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Pierre- Elzéar
Bonnier, Léon Valade, Emile Blémont, Jean Aicard, Ernest d’Hervilly, Camille
Pelletan. Photo: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY.
All Rights Reserved
Frontispiece: See plate 3. Henri Fantin- Latour, A Studio in the Batignolles
Quarter (Un atelier aux Batignolles), 1870, oil on canvas, 204 × 273.5 cm,
Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photo by Hervé Lewandowski, ©Réunion des Musées
Nationaux / Art Resource, NY.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alsdorf, Bridget.
Fellow men : Fantin-Latour and the problem of the group in nineteenth-
century French painting / Bridget Alsdorf.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-15367-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Fantin-Latour, Henri,
1836-1904—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Portraits, Group—France.
3. Artists—France—Portraits. 4. Identity (Psychology) in art. 5. Portrait
painting, French—19th century. 6. Art and society—France—History—19th
century. I. Title.
ND553.F32A85 2012
759.4—dc23 2012009584
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This publication is made possible in part by a grant from the Barr Ferree
Foundation Fund for Publications, Princeton University.
This book has been composed in Garamond Pro
Printed on acid-f ree paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Todd and Nick

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 • The Self in Group Portraiture 19
In Homage 21
Moi et Delacroix 39
Manet: “One in a thousand, or alone” 56
Degas: Relational Portraiture 61
Chapter 2 • A Crisis of Pride 68
Mutual Admiration Society 70
Courbet’s Studio 74
To Truth! 79
Mirror, Mirror 82
Chapter 3 • Studio of the Self 105
Solitary Confinement 111
Velázquez’s Mirror 131
Bazille’s Studio 144
Secret Societies 149
Chapter 4 • Deviance and Disappearance 156
Les Vilains Bonshommes 160
Courbet / Fantin / Pelletan 178
In Absentia 189
Manet’s Crowd 193
Rimbaud the Bourgeois 198
Chapter 5 • The Irregularists 203
Renoir’s Society 206
An Impressionist’s Studio 215
Degas, Odd Man In 217
Conclusion 228
Notes 243
Selected Bibliography 309
Index 323