Nu. Draft 1890

Curator: We are looking at "Nu. Draft" from 1890, created by Gustave Moreau. It can be found at the Musee National Gustave Moreau in Paris. It looks to be painted in oils. Editor: Wow, that has some mood! The stark white figure practically shimmers against what seems like a dark, almost foreboding forest. She seems vulnerable and exposed. Curator: Moreau was deeply involved with Symbolism. The recurring motif of the female nude reflects various concepts such as purity, temptation, or a bridge to the spiritual realm. Do you sense those concepts? Editor: Definitely that vulnerable bridge feeling—but maybe less of the purity I associate with classical nudes. She looks almost like she is fading into her surroundings. As if she were about to become just another shade in the woods, fading away as she takes her leave. It also seems quite an intimate, psychological glimpse; do you get that? Curator: Yes, Moreau delved often into personal psychological spaces. The background almost obscures as it frames the figure and makes her luminosity much more vivid. This may represent concealment, or a sort of threshold into inner, obscured feelings or even one's memories. The intimacy in the Symbolist framework reveals greater universal emotions and states. The female figure almost operates as an archetypal container. Editor: It strikes me how contemporary it looks too. I can imagine that almost as a graphic novel sketch. I mean you know he painted it in 1890 and it looks incredibly modern to me. Do you find this? Curator: Yes! Even though it's rendered traditionally, that feeling of immediacy with a rawness, the visual texture, those are definitely what create a link for us across time. This preliminary draft almost captures this artist’s psyche immediately on canvas. Editor: It definitely stays with you, something that began as something preliminary to this larger exploration, the symbolic and female figure and what it all means, yet also feels as something very whole on its own, right? I see his search for form right in front of me. Curator: Absolutely, a true moment frozen in time for the ages. Editor: Yeah, truly haunting in all the best ways, thank you for your illuminating overview of this marvelous piece.