Henri Fantin-Latour was born in Grenoble into the family of Théodore Fantin-Latour, portrait painter and teacher of drawing, and a Russian mother.When his family moved to Paris, he was taught by his father at an early age,and from 1850 though 1854 studied painting at the school of Lecoq de Boisbaudran. After a short period at the Ecole des Beaux–Arts, he worked at Courbet’s studio. From 1853 onwards he regularly copied works by the old masters in the Louvre, as well as paintings by Delacroix in the Musée du Luxembourg, and for 12 years lived mainly by copying.He met Degas in the Louvre in 1855, Manet in 1857 and Berthe Morisot in 1858. In 1858, Henri Fantin-Latour became friends with Whistler and the two artists, along with Alphonse Legros, formed the Société des Trois. In 1859, Whistler invited him to visit London, where through Alphonse Legros and the amateur engraver Edwin Edwards he became associated with the artistic milieu of the English capital, and in 1864 exhibited at the Royal Academy. In London he was especially popular for his flower paintings, which he began to paint in the same year.