Duet of the Trojans, seventh plate 1903

Henri Fantin-Latour made this print, Duet of the Trojans, with strokes of black ink dancing across the plate. I imagine him hunched over, squinting, as he worked the surface, coaxing light out of darkness. There is a tension and a drama in the image. The woman, draped in classical robes, sits beneath a tree, while another figure kneels before her, almost pleading. Fantin-Latour was into music; perhaps he thought of the duet, or perhaps he sought to visualize music through figures. This print is about the kind of dialogue that happens between people who are emotionally entangled. I think about the kind of looking Fantin-Latour was doing; it's like he's trying to figure out the world through the act of making. He's not just representing something, he's thinking through it, feeling through it. When we look at this, we’re also taking part in that process. It's like we’re all in this conversation together, across time, trying to make sense of feeling and form.