To Robert Schumann

Passionately engaged with music, Fantin-Latour began to explore musical themes in his art after he attended the first full production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle in 1876 in Bayreuth, Germany. Lithographs such as To Robert Schumann earned Fantin the reputation as "the artist who made music visible." To his admirers, Fantin did not merely illustrate operatic scenes, but "wrapped his soul in music . . . and with wondrous dexterity drew . . . the visions he heard."