Henri-Théodore Fantin-Latour, 
French 1836-1904- 

L'Aurore chassant la Nuit; 

oil on canvas, signed 'Fantin' (lower left), 66 x 81.8 cm. 

Provenance: 
Gustave Tempelaere, Paris. 
Alex Reid, Glasgow. 
Trust of the late Dr William Boyd, LLd of Dundee, Sotheby's, London, 29 November 1967, lot 208. 
Acquired at the above sale by Arthur Tooth & Son, London. 
Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 16 November 2006, lot 11. 
Private Collection, UK (by descent). 

Literature: 
Madame Fantin-Latour, 'Catalogue de l'Oeuvre de Henri Fantin-Latour', Paris, 1911, p.224, no.2126. 

Note: 
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Madame Sylvie Brame. 

Fantin-Latour first studied with his father, the artist Théodore Fantin-Latour (1805-1872/5), before enrolling at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1854, where his classmates included Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Alphonse Legros (1837-1911) and Jean-Charles Cazin (1840-1901). Despite his own work being stylistically distinct from that of the Impressionists, Fantin-Latour was closely associated with central figures from the Impressionist movement, exhibiting with Édouard Manet (1832-1883), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and Claude Monet (1840-1926). 

Fantin-Latour produced a number of expressive mythological and allegorical scenes such as the present work, which depicts 'Dawn chasing away the night'. These paintings are distinguished by their loose brushwork, which imparts them with a striking sense of dreaminess befitting their subjects. Fantin-Latour treated the subject of 'L'Aurore' on multiple occasions, including in a slightly smaller composition which sold recently at Christie's, London, on 15 July 2021 (lot 15). The present work was painted in 1904.