Slapende waternimf 1905

Henri Fantin-Latour made this etching, Slapende waternimf, on paper. I imagine him bent over the plate, carefully laying down those tiny, dark marks. It’s such a dreamy, soft scene. I bet it emerged slowly, with a lot of rubbing out and re-etching to get that hazy, nymph-like feel. I almost feel bad for Fantin-Latour, trying to wrangle the ethereal onto a hard metal surface. Did he feel like he was chasing something just out of reach? I can really see him experimenting with different pressures and angles, trying to evoke the texture of skin, the feeling of cool water, the weightlessness of a dream. The dark scribbles around her body remind me of some of Odilon Redon’s charcoal drawings. Painters are always looking at other painters and pinching ideas. But that’s how we learn, right? We keep the conversation going, each of us adding our own little twist. That's how a painter's world evolves.