Frontispiece: Daphnis Playing on His Pipe (Frontispice) Possibly 1926

Aristide Maillol made this drawing, titled Frontispiece: Daphnis Playing on His Pipe, with a printmaking technique that reduces the image to its essence. Just look at how a simple orange line can evoke so much with so little! The figure of Daphnis is so clearly defined, yet the drawing is equally minimal, like a child's illustration. The quality of the line is crucial here - how it confidently moves through space creating arches, columns, and the body of a young man. It reminds me of Matisse and his line drawings from the 1940's. But, what I love most is how, in the economy of that line, Maillol's drawing becomes more about suggestion than definition. Like how the most beautiful things can emerge from something incomplete. So you see, this little drawing, it's not just a picture, but an invitation to imagine.