White Roses 1873

Henri Fantin-Latour painted these white roses in oil on canvas in nineteenth-century France, at a time when the art world was starting to break away from traditional academic painting. Fantin-Latour was known for his still life paintings of flowers, which were popular among the middle class. In this painting, he uses a dark background to make the pale roses stand out. The roses are arranged in a simple vase, and the composition is straightforward and elegant. But what did painting flowers mean at the time? In the 19th-century French art world, institutions such as the Salon dictated what was considered high art, with history painting at the top and still life at the bottom. By focusing on still life, Fantin-Latour was making a statement about the value of everyday beauty and rejecting the hierarchy of the art world. We can consult exhibition reviews and artist correspondence to understand this painting as an expression of cultural values and artistic change.