Summer (Color Version) 1890 - 1900

Curator: Ah, what a striking first impression! There’s almost a photographic quality, like an early impressionist vision developing in a darkroom. It is lovely. Editor: Welcome. This is "Summer (Color Version)" by Theodore Roussel, likely crafted between 1890 and 1900. We are fortunate to have it here at The Art Institute of Chicago. What strikes you about its formal qualities? Curator: Formally, the etching technique gives it an ethereal feel. Look at how the lines fade and reappear, almost mimicking the impermanence of summer itself. There's such fragility in how it's realized. It feels as fleeting as a daydream. Editor: Yes, and consider the symbolic implications of her positioning. The nude subject, the fan she delicately holds – all contribute to a tableau of sophisticated leisure, perhaps a veiled comment on societal expectations of women during that time. Curator: Expectations and veiled commentary! You know, I find the shadows around her so captivating. They lend this almost menacing, brooding undertone, as if this summer reverie exists only at the precipice of something darker. Do you see it that way? Editor: Indeed. Semiotically, the harsh contrasts established between light and shadow generate visual depth, and could also convey that her ease and sensuality is fraught with unspoken complexities, almost pushing back against romanticized notions of femininity at that time. Curator: She embodies an elusive paradox. What she conceals is, arguably, as important as what she reveals about the nature of her freedom and constraints. Editor: In this etching on paper, Roussel challenges the viewer, doesn’t he? Through expert utilization of materials, texture, light, shadow, and composition, we begin to reflect deeply on the meaning of art, self and summer! Curator: What a fabulous find this summer has turned out to be. Roussel made this picture an exploration for me, and a truly beautiful, intriguing reverie of the times he lived in.