Centenary of Hector Berlioz 1903

Henri Fantin-Latour made this lithograph to commemorate the centenary of Hector Berlioz. Look at the swirling, atmospheric marks. It’s like watching the scene come into being, shifting and emerging through intuition. I sympathize with Fantin-Latour. What was it like to create this? Maybe he was thinking about how to evoke the ethereal quality of music through the medium of lithography. Notice how the texture created by the fine lines shapes our experience, contributing to the dreamlike quality of the work. The floating figures, the bust of Berlioz, the trumpet raised high—it all communicates feeling, intention, meaning. Fantin-Latour created several lithographs, many of which were inspired by music. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another across time. Painting, drawing, printmaking – they're all forms of embodied expression which embrace ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations.