The Maid in Armor on Horseback (Joan of Arc series: III) c. 1908 - 1909

Louis Maurice Boutet de Monvel made this watercolor and graphite drawing of Joan of Arc sometime around 1895. And what strikes me is how flat it is, not flat like boring, but flat like a conscious choice, which has a powerful impact. There’s a real emphasis on the surface, the texture of the paper, and the delicate washes of color. Look how the figures are outlined with such precision, yet the shading is so minimal. It's almost as if he’s deliberately avoiding depth, creating a dreamlike quality. Notice the repeated verticals of the spears in the background. They could almost be the lines of a child's drawing, except here they’re imbued with such force. It reminds me of the work of Puvis de Chavannes, another French painter of the late 19th century who was all about simplification and flattened space. It all goes to show you, in art there are no rules, only choices.