She was More Beautiful Than Dreams, plate seven from Love Possibly 1898 - 1899

Editor: So, this is *She was More Beautiful Than Dreams*, a lithograph by Maurice Denis, probably from 1898 or 1899. It's a plate from a series called *Love*. It's… hazy, almost dreamlike. There’s this delicate figure and the background feels like a whispered memory. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Whispered memories... yes! That’s it exactly! It's as if Denis has captured a fleeting impression. For me, it speaks to the Symbolist movement’s focus on emotion and subjective experience. There’s a sense of longing, of something just beyond our grasp. Do you feel that too? Editor: Definitely. I think it's interesting how he's used the lithographic process to create that soft, diffused effect. The figure almost blends into the background. Curator: Precisely! It is as though she materializes right before our eyes! It avoids the harsher lines of other printmaking techniques. I imagine that it aided Denis in creating that air of reverie. Look at the colours as well, and you are probably going to realize they create an insular, comforting, safe zone for this beautiful figure, like a womb from which love can be born! The series title *Love* also lends it significance, don't you think? Editor: That makes so much sense, creating a mood, not a portrait. It’s really beautiful how the figure emerges from the garden scene… kind of haunting. I hadn't really considered the title that deeply before. Thanks for that. Curator: Absolutely! It's art’s enigmatic embrace that allows everyone to ponder the possibility of more interpretations, no? Every interaction, another blossoming.