Interpreting a Painter’s Life

Luminous Impressions: The Operatic and Fantasy Prints of Henri Fantin-Latour

Luminous Impressions features a selection of over 40 Henri Fantin-Latour lithographs from a collection of more than 150 images. The late Gilbert M. Denman, Jr. donated them to the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2005. The catalog describes these lithographs as “fantasies of sensuous beauties and nymphs, dreamy allegorical and mythological scenes, and homages to Wagner, Berlioz, Shumann and Brahms.”

Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) is best known for exquisite still lifes of flowers and fruit. However, he also devoted much of his creative life to making impressionistic lithographs, inspired by his passion for opera, music, literature and poetry, as displayed in this exhibition.

In addition to lithographs, an audio tour is accessible to the museum-goer via cell phone or iPad app. When visiting the exhibition, one can listen to excerpts of the music that inspired what Fantin-Latour himself considered to be his greatest artistic achievements.

For an example of another audio tour Flutter & Wow has produced, click here.