Roses jaunes et rouges

"Roses jaunes et rouges" (Yellow and Red Roses) from 1879, in the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection, demonstrates Fantin-Latour's interest in coloristic contrast within a single arrangement. Combining yellow and red roses — warm hues with strong mutual contrast — required careful management of color temperature and saturation to avoid visual discord. Both colors were associated in flower symbolism with specific emotions, but Fantin-Latour's approach was primarily painterly rather than allegorical: the interest was in how the colors interacted on canvas. By 1879 he had been painting roses for fifteen years and could approach such arrangements with total technical confidence, adjusting his palette and handling to the specific demands of each combination. The Getty Collection's holding of several Fantin-Latour flower works allows the systematic study of how he varied his approach across different flower types and color combinations.

Oil on canvas requiring careful color management to make yellow and red roses coexist harmoniously. Fantin-Latour would have used a neutral ground that neither favored one color over the other, and placed the two colors in a compositional relationship that allowed each to enhance the other — warm yellow making red appear richer, deep red making yellow appear lighter.