Red Riding Hood: The Wolf Scares Away Grandmother c. 19th century

Curator: This is Edward Martin Taber's "Red Riding Hood: The Wolf Scares Away Grandmother," held here at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a quick, almost ghostly sketch. Editor: It's like a half-remembered dream, isn't it? So light, almost fading away, but with these sharp, disturbing images peeking through. Curator: The repetition of figures—Red Riding Hood, the wolf, the grandmother—captures the fracturing of innocence and the blurring of identity so central to the tale. Editor: Exactly! The wolf, not just a predator but a shapeshifter, embodies the unsettling ambiguity of the story. I get a real sense of anxiety from the sketchiness. Curator: This anxiety speaks to our cultural memory of childhood fears, the vulnerability we feel in the face of deception, and the loss of safety. Editor: It definitely leaves you with a feeling that the shadows are closer than you think. Curator: Precisely, and the artist really captures that feeling. Editor: A perfect echo of a timeless story.