Sketches of Soldiers in Rain Capes (recto and verso) 1918

Editor: Here we have John Singer Sargent's "Sketches of Soldiers in Rain Capes," date unknown, a pencil drawing at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a series of studies, very somber despite the lightness of the medium. What stands out to you about this sketch? Curator: There's a haunting quality, isn't there? Notice how Sargent captures the weight of the fabric, the stoicism in those hunched shoulders. It's a fleeting glimpse of men at war, perhaps during World War I. The facelessness, almost ghostly, evokes a deep sense of the human cost. Do you feel that too? Editor: Absolutely. It's less about individual portraits and more about the shared experience of soldiers, a collective identity shrouded in rain and uncertainty. Curator: Precisely! And consider Sargent's choice of medium – pencil, immediate, intimate. It suggests a desire to connect, to document a feeling as much as a likeness. Editor: I see what you mean; it's like capturing a fleeting moment of quiet contemplation amidst the chaos. Thanks, that sheds a new light on the artwork. Curator: My pleasure! It's always a joy to ponder the stories these sketches whisper.