Early Life, Family and Training François Lafon was born in Paris in 1846. He grew up in a household where the smell of oil and the sight of brushes were constant, as he was the fourth child of the painter Jacques-Émile Lafon. His father, who lived from 1817 to 1886, provided the first lessons, guiding the boy's hand and teaching him the fundamentals of the craft. This early apprenticeship meant that the language of painting was spoken within the family long before he sought formal instruction elsewhere. As he moved beyond the lessons of his father, François Lafon entered the École des Beaux…