Femme à sa toilette 

Henri Fantin-Latour painted this scene of a woman at her toilette with oil on canvas. The hazy, indistinct style has much to do with the nature of oil paint itself. Its slow drying time allows for blending and reworking, which can be seen here in the soft transitions of light and shadow on the woman's skin, achieved through layered brushwork, or "glazes." Fantin-Latour’s approach imbues the work with a dreamlike quality, blurring the line between reality and imagination. The work is both classical and modern. The subject matter, a nude woman, references a long tradition of idealized female forms in art, while the loose, painterly handling aligns with the emerging Impressionist movement. Fantin-Latour was certainly aware of these conflicting forces, and he strikes a delicate balance in this piece. Ultimately, what we see here is not just a depiction of beauty, but an exploration of the very act of painting itself. The choice of materials, the techniques employed, and the social context all contribute to the richness and complexity of this evocative image.