Pansies 1887

Editor: This is "Pansies" by Henri Fantin-Latour, painted in 1887 using oil paint. It's such a moody piece! The colours are so muted, yet they have a captivating allure. What captures your attention most when you look at this painting? Curator: The subtle rebellion, perhaps? Fantin-Latour painted flowers obsessively, a classic still-life subject. Yet he brings his own voice; notice the blurred edges, the dreamy almost photographic quality. These aren't botanical studies, but poems. These pansies aren't frozen in time, they breathe; they hint at a story unwritten and unseen. What does it evoke in you? Editor: I see a melancholy beauty. It makes me think about the fleeting nature of time, you know? And, if these flowers were people they seem reflective. I can't tell if that's real, or just me projecting though! Curator: Project away! Art is about that exchange. And perhaps Fantin-Latour was wrestling with the very things you describe, the brief vibrancy before life fades. There's almost a photographic realism about it, blurring of reality that heightens feeling. Doesn’t it make you want to reach out and touch their velvety petals? Editor: Absolutely! I see what you mean now about the photographic realism too. The softness around the edges helps enhance that intimate feeling. It seems to me the artist captured an exquisite fragility. Curator: Precisely! He immortalised a quiet moment, and whispered his feelings into the weave of the canvas. Something simple is all of a sudden not-so-simple! Editor: I'll definitely never look at another flower painting in quite the same way again. I didn't expect to feel so moved by this. Thank you!