Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Robe 19th-20th century

Curator: Here we have Denman Waldo Ross's small oil painting, "Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Robe," part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It feels almost unfinished, doesn't it? The brushstrokes are so visible, like the artist was really focusing on the act of painting itself, more than the finished image. Curator: Perhaps that's the point. Ross was deeply interested in color theory. It’s not just a portrait, but an exercise. Look at how he layers the paint to create the skin tones. Editor: Right, I'm thinking about the pigments themselves, ground perhaps by hand. The red would have been particularly costly. It gives me a new appreciation to how much labor is represented here. Curator: Yes, and the gaze of the young man is so direct, yet also detached. Almost like he's considering the viewer. Editor: For me, it's the immediacy of the materials that stays. It makes you think about all the invisible labor involved in art. Curator: Ultimately, a portrait of a person becomes a portrait of an era, a study of color, and perhaps even a reflection of the artist himself.