Female Torso 1928

Curator: Lachaise's "Female Torso," residing here at the Harvard Art Museums, really hits you, doesn't it? Editor: Absolutely. It's so... elemental. Almost a primal form, emerging, or maybe sinking. Curator: Lachaise, born in 1882, had a lifelong muse in his wife, Isabel, and many see this as a celebration of the female form, liberated from traditional constraints. Editor: It's interesting how the curves almost defy gravity, yet there's such a sense of groundedness too. It feels very Venus of Willendorf, this kind of female archetype of abundance and power. Curator: Perhaps power in acceptance? It's a reclamation of the body, maybe a conversation with those older ideals. Editor: I like that—a vital conversation. The bronze practically glows from within, making a statement of sheer life. Curator: Yes, something eternal about it, a fragment whispering stories from epochs.