Untitled student exercise from Newcomb College 1942 - 1949

Curator: Here we have an untitled student exercise from Newcomb College, crafted by D.J. Tennyson. It resides here at the Harvard Art Museums, composed of wood. Editor: It feels almost like a sketch in three dimensions, doesn't it? This little folded geometry makes me think of tentative architectural forms. Curator: Newcomb College, now part of Tulane University, was a women's college, groundbreaking in its time. This piece invites a dialogue about art education and gender roles. Editor: You know, I wonder if Tennyson saw it as a kind of secret language, an attempt to break free from the constraints of traditional art? It’s sort of wonderfully incomplete. Curator: Perhaps. Looking at it through a feminist lens, we can question the societal expectations imposed upon women artists of the period. Editor: It makes you wonder about all the things left unsaid, the potentials glimpsed but never fully realized, doesn’t it? Curator: Indeed. It's a quiet but potent reminder of the complexities inherent in artistic expression and social change. Editor: Absolutely, art can be so much more than what's on the surface. This piece is a perfect example.