Faam c. 1903 - 1904

Henri Fantin-Latour made this drawing, Faam, with pencil on paper. The whole scene emerges from a haze of marks, a process of gradual revealing. It's like watching a photograph develop in the darkroom. The figure seems to be leaping forward, maybe even flying. Look at the way the pencil strokes around her body create a sense of movement, like wind or smoke. The texture is rough and uneven, full of tiny, scratchy lines. They almost vibrate on the surface. There's a really interesting contrast between the solidity of the figure and the looseness of the background, which gives the work a dreamlike quality. This interest in the more ethereal and imaginative side of life connects Fantin-Latour to Odilon Redon, who was also interested in the mysterious and symbolic potential of art. What does it mean to see art as a space for such ambiguity?