A Studio At Les Batignolles 1870

Threatened by the shift toward Impressionism, the powerful elite of traditionalists that controlled the galleries and salons of Paris rejected more and more new paintings by the artists depicted here. Every exhibition provoked alternative exhibitions of the work of the avant-garde, to the fury of the public and critics alike. Eduoard Manet, who is seated at the center of the composition staring defiantly out at the viewer, was a figurehead for this new movement and bore the brunt of much reactionary criticism. For Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), his friend and admirer, the decision to paint Studio at Batignolles constituted a personal petition in favor of Manet's genius and the desire to capture a moment of revolution in the history of art. As a historical document it has the feel of an early daguerreotype, thanks to the light quality and the carefully posed stance of each subject. Although he was closely allied with the revolutionaries here, including Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet, Fantin was in fact a far more traditional painter than any of them, and this work is therefore a brave statement of support.