The Two Sisters, Henri Fantin-Latour (1859)
This double portrait shows the two younger sisters of the painter; Marie reads on the right while Nathalie embroiders on the left. The subdued tones of this bourgeois interior are offset by the colorful yarn on the embroidery frame. The picture is notable for an unspoken psychological tension between the two sitters. An unsettling note in Nathalie’s face hints at her depressive illness which would soon confine her to a mental institution for the rest of her life.
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