Study of Two Infants; verso: Study of Four Infants c. 1905

Curator: Lovis Corinth's "Study of Two Infants," around 1890-1920, a drawing held by the Harvard Art Museums. It depicts two young children in soft pencil strokes. Editor: It's striking how raw it feels. The visible pencil lines and the paper's texture give it such an immediacy. I can almost smell the charcoal. Curator: Indeed. Children as symbols of innocence and potential are age-old. Corinth captures their youthful vitality with these quick strokes. Editor: The sketch-like quality also hints at the labor, doesn't it? We're witnessing Corinth working through form, testing the limits of the material. Curator: Perhaps, but the universality of childhood experience also leaps out at me, transcending time. Editor: Ultimately, it's a document of both artistic process and social observation. Curator: I agree, this drawing provides a window into Corinth's world. Editor: And, I suppose, into our own perceptions of childhood.