A Robert Schumann (To Robert Schumann), Plate 2
1893
Hédiard 109
Lithograph
Printed by Lemercier et Cie, Paris.
13 7/8 × 16 1/16 in. (35.2 × 40.8 cm)
$6,500
A superb impression of this rare lithograph on chine appliqué signed in pencil. Full margins. Edition of 25.
Fantin-Latour was very passionate about the music of his time. In particular, he defended Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz and Robert Schumann, whose works were highly controversial then. The music-related paintings and prints of Fantin-Latour consist of illustrations of certain works such as the operas of Wagner and tributes to his favorite composers, like this lithograph.
Fantin-Latour had wanted to pay tribute to Schumann as early as in 1873. He worked on preparatory sketches for a painting that was intended for the Salon. But he struggled with the composition, which was supposed to celebrate both the composer and his music. He abandoned the project. A couple of years later, he paid a pompous, successful tribute to Berlioz with a lithograph and a painting. In 1893, twenty years after his first attempt, Fantin-Latour returned to his project of a tribute to Schumann with this lithograph first and then a painting, which is now in the collections of the Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. Yet, of the two works, only the lithograph has the appearance of a finished work serving Fantin-Latour's original purpose, while the painting is more of a sketch.
This lithograph was featured in the recent exhibition 'Fantin-Latour À Fleur de Peau' at Musée du Luxembourg, Paris.
Literature:
G. Hédiard, 'Fantin-Latour, Catalogue de l'Oeuvre lithographique du Maître', Paris, 1906.
L. Dalon, V. Lagier et al., 'Fantin-Latour À Fleur de Peau', Paris, 2016.
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