Group of Portraits (The Five Painters)

~SHORTLY before Degas made Six Friends at Dieppe, Fantin exhibited his fifth and last group portrait at the Paris Salon: Around the Piano, 1885 (plate 5). By this point, Fantin’s career and critical reputation were well established and his break with the impressionists firmly entrenched. He was returning to group portraiture after a long hiatus—his last effort was Corner of a Table, 1872 (plate...