Man en vrouw aan waterkant, een kind zweeft in de lucht c. 1900

Ker Xavier Roussel created this lithograph of ‘Man en vrouw aan waterkant, een kind zweeft in de lucht’ using stone and transfer paper. The piece strikes you with its dreamlike setting and soft, muted tones, dominated by blues, greens, and greys, which create a tranquil yet slightly melancholic mood. Roussel employs a composition where figures blend seamlessly into the landscape. The figures are not sharply defined, almost becoming part of the natural scenery itself. This technique reflects Symbolist ideas, which aimed to express subjective emotions and spiritual truths rather than realistic depictions. The lack of clear boundaries suggests a fluidity between the human and natural worlds, hinting at deeper, perhaps unconscious connections. The floating child introduces an element of the fantastical, challenging conventional perspectives on reality. This work invites us to reflect on how art destabilizes fixed categories, exploring the liminal spaces between the real and the imagined. This is an open invitation to continuously reinterpret its meaning.