A great French painter, lithographer and etcher, Gaston de Latenay studied briefly at the Academie Julian, Paris, but was mostly self-taught. During his long and successful career, de Latenay stood apart from all movements and schools of artistic thought to develop his own poetic vision of nature. He combined japanese influences with a lyricism. Many Impressionist artists were influenced by his remarkable studies of light-effects. This element is clearly evident his early original etchings and marine compositions. Gaston de Latenay’s art won awards at the Universal Expositions of 1886, 1889 and 1900. By this time his etchings, were published by the influential Paris publisher, Edmond Sagot. De Latenay was a full member of both the Societe des Artistes Francais and the Societe des Aquarellistes Francais. Many of his fine landscapes and coastal views depicted scenes in Brittany, Artois and Belgium. One contemporary scholar wrote of his fine etchings, "He is a master in expressing the melancholy aspect of a beautiful park on a golden autumn evening, when the red leaves drop into the calm waters of the Bassin which reflect pale moonbeams filtering through dark trees."