Deux dialogues brings together two works by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, usually known as Crébillon fils – Le hasard du coin du feu (Chance at the Fireside) and La nuit et le moment (The Night and the Right Time). Both belong to the sophisticated libertine literature of eighteenth-century France, where seduction is conducted through conversation, persuasion, and the gradual testing of boundaries.

Galanis’s response to Crébillon is theatrical – rather than treating the erotic encounters as a succession of physical acts, he concentrates on the interaction between the figures, using posture, gesture and proximity to suggest the conversations and negotiations taking place between them.

Galanis’s controlled line is very effective. His figures have a substantial, almost sculptural quality, yet the economy of the engraving leaves enough unsaid for the viewer to complete the scene. The eighteenth-century atmosphere is suggested without becoming dependent upon historical detail.

Deux dialogues was published by Éditions Le Livre du Lettré, Paris, as part of their Collection de l’Honnête Homme (The Gentleman’s Collection). The limited and numbered edition was 360 copies.