Human Skulls, for "Art Anatomy" 1872

Editor: This is William Rimmer’s "Human Skulls, for 'Art Anatomy'," a pencil drawing held at the Harvard Art Museums. It's striking how clinical yet vulnerable these skulls appear. What historical context shapes your understanding of this work? Curator: Rimmer's anatomical drawings existed within a 19th-century scientific context, but we must also examine the racial biases inherent in anatomical studies of the time. What populations were being studied, and how were those studies used to justify existing power structures? It’s crucial to question the very notion of objective observation when human remains are involved. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't fully considered. Thank you! Curator: It’s in questioning our assumptions that we can really begin to understand art's complex relationship to society.