Profile Head, after the antique 19th-20th century

Editor: This is Charles Herbert's "Profile Head, after the antique," housed here at Harvard Art Museums. It's quite a delicate drawing. What do you see in its reproduction of classical form? Curator: I see an echo of power and authority, but refracted through a 19th-century lens. Consider how the artist engages with the idealized form. Who had access to these ideals, and who was excluded? Editor: That's a good point. It’s not just about beauty, but who gets to define it, right? Curator: Precisely. By studying these reproductions, we can unpack the gendered and racialized narratives embedded in the Western art canon. Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way, thanks for opening my eyes! Curator: It's a continual process of questioning and re-evaluating.