Eugénie Latil

Eugénie Latil (born Eugénie Victoire Joséphine Henry; Moscow, c. 1798 – Saint-Girons, 29 September 1879) was a French painter and sculptor. She exhibited at the Paris Salon from 1822 and received medals in 1839 and 1841. Her works are held in several French public collections, including the Musée Massey in Tarbes, the Musée de Grenoble, and the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris.

Life Eugénie Henry was born in Moscow to French parents. Her death certificate, held at the Archives départementales de l'Ariège, gives her age at death as 81, placing her birth around 1798. 19th-century biographical dictionaries give the year 1808.

In 1833, she married the painter François Vincent Latil (1796–1890). From 1842 onward she exhibited at the Salon under the name Mme Latil, née Henry.

In 1860, the couple left Paris and settled in Saint-Girons in the Ariège department, supported by an annuity, a pension from the Ministry of Fine Arts, and a life insurance policy. Having no direct heirs, they sought a recipient for their art collection. The town of Saint-Girons declined the gift for financial reasons.

In 1878, the Latils offered the collection to Tarbes, having learned of the bequest that Placide Massey had made to that city. A total of 108 works were transferred to what is now the Musée Massey, including 27 paintings and 24 sculptures by Eugénie Latil. A painting depicting Quasimodo saving Esmeralda, inspired by Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, was shown at the Salon of 1833. It is now held at the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris, measuring 81 × 65 cm, signed "Miss Henry 1832".

Works reproduced from her Salon paintings appeared in the Journal des artistes in 1839, 1840, and 1841.

Collections Works by Eugénie Latil are held in the following public collections:

Musée Massey, Tarbes — 27 paintings and 24 sculptures, donated by the Latils in 1878 Musée de Grenoble — Travail et paresse, oil on canvas, 55 × 46 cm, donated by the artist in 1840 Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence — Jeune paysanne endormie, oil on panel, 20 × 16 cm, donated by the artist in 1869 Maison de Victor Hugo, Paris — Quasimodo sauvant la Esmeralda des mains de ses bourreaux, 1832 Musée d'Orsay — catalogued in the artist register Château-musée Henri IV, Nérac — Les Adieux d'Henri IV à Gabrielle d'Estrées, 1842, on deposit from Musée Massey Église Saint-Philippe-du-Roule, Paris — Le Vœu de Saint Louis