Sketchbook page c. 1776

Curator: This is a sketchbook page by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It measures just 19.2 by 12.3 centimeters. Editor: It feels like looking through a very faded window; I'm immediately struck by the ethereal quality of the sketch. It's delicate, almost like a whisper of a room. Curator: Indeed. Saint-Aubin captures what seems to be a drawing room or salon, compartmentalized in a somewhat rigid structure with curtains and a portrait. Editor: That rigidity is interesting. It presents the domestic space as somehow confined, even performative. Are we meant to see these interiors as stages? Curator: Perhaps. Saint-Aubin often depicted scenes of Parisian life, including its social spaces. The drawing feels spontaneous, yet intentional in its staging. Editor: The sketch almost feels like a criticism of the gilded cage, doesn’t it? Curator: Saint-Aubin provides a glimpse into how social spaces were curated and controlled. Food for thought. Editor: A delicate glimpse indeed.