Ninth Eclogue: Galatea in the Water (Galatee se jouant dans les eaux) Possibly 1926

Aristide Maillol made this print, Ninth Eclogue: Galatea in the Water, with a single color. The overall effect is simple and decorative, but the closer you look, the more you see the hand of the artist in the making. The orange ink is laid down with an even pressure, but it’s not too perfect. Look at the reeds behind the figures; see how their density varies, some thick and thin, straight and bent? It’s as if Maillol is letting the reeds breathe, allowing them to be a little imperfect. That’s how the image as a whole feels to me: relaxed and unfussy. The rippling water is another area where Maillol lets the line do a lot of work, suggesting movement and depth with very little. And the figures themselves, so classically posed, still manage to have a casual air. Maillol was a sculptor as well as a printmaker, and I think he brings a sculptor's eye to this work. It reminds me a little of Matisse, who also explored the relationship between line and form, flatness and depth. There's no definitive statement here. Instead, we have an invitation to play along, to feel the water and the sun on our own skin.