Fernand Lantoine was a French painter born in Belgium where he lived most of his life. He is influenced by the neo-impressionist aesthetic of Paul Signac, whom he met during his training at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts of Paris. His subjects are first of all inspired by his everyday life in Belgium, scenes of genre and street, landscapes of the mosane valley painted in an austere style.

Appointed naval painter in 1922, Lantoine accompanies the French fleet on numerous voyages in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The discovery of these regions, and later that of Black Africa and the Belgian Congo, durably marks his mind and his art, which is simplified, tends towards a form of abstraction to the detriment of the usual orientalist orie...