Indeterminate Sketches 1889

Editor: John Singer Sargent's "Indeterminate Sketches," at the Harvard Art Museums, appears to be a work in progress. What strikes me most is the sparseness; what symbols or motifs might you see emerging here? Curator: It's the very indeterminacy that's key. The lines hint at figures, faces perhaps, almost like half-formed memories. Do you feel a sense of yearning or searching? This is the artist's mind at work, capturing fleeting impressions, a visual language of suggestion rather than declaration. Editor: I can see that. So it's more about the process than a finished idea? Curator: Precisely. It shows the genesis of form, the power of suggestion. We see the cultural memory latent within the artist’s eye, the evolution from impression to image. Editor: Fascinating; it makes me consider the power of suggestion in art. Curator: Indeed. These sketches reveal the rich tapestry of visual associations that inform a finished work, a testament to the enduring power of the unfinished.