Woman's Head in Profile c. 20th century

Editor: So, this is Elie Nadelman's "Woman's Head in Profile." I'm immediately struck by the simple lines, yet there's something unsettling about the face. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It feels like a whisper, doesn't it? Nadelman was playing with classicism, but he's also pulling it apart. The smooth, idealized form is there, but then there's this almost Cubist deconstruction happening. Do you feel that tension? Editor: I do. It's like she's both familiar and totally alien. Curator: Exactly! It's a dream of beauty, perhaps, filtered through the anxieties of a modern world. A world on the cusp of so much change. It’s a bit of a tightrope walk, and I think that's why it stays with us. Editor: That's fascinating. I'll definitely be looking at Nadelman's work differently now.