Princesse de Broglie, after Ingres 1930s

Curator: Here we have Jean Charlot's "Princesse de Broglie, after Ingres," a pencil drawing measuring about 27 by 21 centimeters, housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's so delicate. The light touch of the pencil gives it an ephemeral quality, like a fleeting memory. Curator: Charlot, born in 1898, clearly engages with the canon by revisiting Ingres's iconic portrait. It's not merely a copy, but a study, perhaps, in how Ingres's idealized form can be translated through a different hand and time. Editor: And into a different medium. Pencil democratizes the image somehow, stripping away the layers of oil paint and the preciousness associated with it. It's like he's examining the bones of the composition. Curator: Precisely. It begs the question: what is lost, and what is gained, in this act of reproduction and reinterpretation? Perhaps a sense of accessibility and challenges the original’s power through humble means. Editor: It leaves me pondering the nature of artistic influence, and how artists build upon and react to the work of their predecessors. This simple drawing sparks such complex questions.