The Bather 1904

Henri Fantin-Latour made this painting of a nude bather with oils on canvas. The way he scumbles the paint on, blurring the figure with the landscape, suggests artmaking as a fluid and responsive process. Up close, you can see how the strokes of the brush dance across the surface. Look at the back of the figure, see how the brushstrokes create the form and suggest light with these soft variations of brown and tan. The texture is soft and hazy, as if the artist is capturing not just a visual scene, but a fleeting memory or sensation. It’s almost like the figure is emerging from the earth. This reminds me of Corot, another artist who blurred the lines between the figure and landscape. Ultimately, this piece invites us to consider the relationship between the human form and nature. There's no singular way to read it.