Fromentin, Eugène

Fromentin, Eugène (b La Rochelle, 24 Oct. 1820; d Saint-Maurice, nr. La Rochelle, 27 Aug. 1876). French painter and writer. As a painter he was a specialist in Orientalism (he visited North Africa in 1846, 1847–8, and 1853). His pictures in this vein were much admired in his day but are now little known; his reputation rests instead on his book Les Maîtres d'autrefois (The Masters of Past Time, 1876), a study of Dutch and Flemish painting, particularly of the 17th century. He also wrote a lyrical novel, Dominique (1862).