Whilst the Impressionists had eschewed depictions from mythology, opting for the real, modern, and changing landscapes of their own time, there had been an increasing trend to look back on the art of the 18th century, and the Neo-

Impressionists started to look back to these myths for inspiration.

In this painting, from 1905, Cross uses the theme of the mythological Leda and the swan in a contemporary setting. Using Leda and the swan, he explored a myth often portrayed in classical art, seen in paintings by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci (both lost), Tintoretto and Rubens. Cezanne had made his version of the theme in 1882 (now in the Barnes Foundation).

The swan is a subject that Cross had painted several times prior to this (Including Three Swans, c.1899-1900, Fogg Museum ; The Swan, 1893, Private Collection), among others. It would seem that the bird fascinated him, perhaps as it lives on the water, affording an opportunity to paint the effects of light reflecting on the water.

The swan, just left of the centre, forms a heart shape with its wings arched. Cross’s brushstrokes are larger, broader, and quite impasto in places. As was typical for him during this period, he leaves significant spaces between strokes, especially to the right of Leda and in the sky, bringing our eye down to the more densely painted area of water, the figure of Leda and the swan itself.

The pinks used for Leda’s body are echoed in the sky and again in dashes around the swan, linking the two protagonists of this story. At the almost central part of the painting, the dense use of pale colours for the water, the swan seems to come out of the water, as if camouflaged, unfurling its wings.

From the early to mid 1890’s Cross’s paintings were more characteristically Pointillist, a technique originated by Seurat and Signac, using small and regularly positioned dots of colour harmoniously. However, following Seurat’s early death, in 1891 both Cross and Signac evolved their technique from around 1895 into using broader, longer brushstrokes, in contrasting colours, leaving small areas of exposed canvas between the strokes, placing the paint like mosaics on the canvas. This approach, where he favoured keeping the colours separate, resulted in vibrant, shimmering visual effects through contrast. 1905 was the culmination of a vibrant and fertile stretch of work, seeing him access a freedom within to seek expression and style, and a bold use of colour.