Musée d’Orsay · 1872
Un coin de table
Henri Fantin-Latour
Fantin-Latour paints eight young poets gathered around a table, including a 17-year-old Arthur Rimbaud on the far left and his mentor Paul Verlaine beside him — a snapshot of a literary group just as Rimbaud, soon to become one of France's most influential poets, was arriving on the Paris scene.
Why it matters
Fantin-Latour paints eight young poets gathered around a table, including a 17-year-old Arthur Rimbaud on the far left and his mentor Paul Verlaine beside him — a snapshot of a literary group just as Rimbaud, soon to become one of France's most influential poets, was arriving on the Paris scene.
Look closer
Look for the bouquet of flowers on the right side of the table — Fantin-Latour placed it there to fill the space of a poet who refused to sit for the portrait after an argument with Rimbaud.
This painting is one of the only images that shows the teenage Rimbaud from life — a face that would become legendary in French poetry, captured almost by chance in a group portrait.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €10–20 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.