Portrait Bust of Young Woman n.d.

Curator: Isn't it arresting? A study in quiet composure. Editor: It certainly is. This piece is titled "Portrait Bust of Young Woman," by Francis Cotes. We don't have a specific date for it, but Cotes was active in the mid-18th century. It's rendered in chalk and charcoal on paper, and is currently housed here at the Art Institute. It looks academic. Curator: "Arresting" might be too dramatic. It's subtle. Look at the softness of the charcoal, almost like breath on the page. I feel her observing me as much as I am observing her, if you know what I mean. A mutual… consideration. Editor: Right, the softness definitely conveys a particular status. Charcoal, chalk—these were preparatory materials, means to an end for a more ‘finished’ work. Using them alone perhaps signifies a specific relationship to academic practice? Was it meant to showcase skill, technique? Curator: Skill, absolutely, but I see something more. Maybe the intimacy of the medium speaks to something private. She's young, yes, but her gaze… it hints at an understanding, an awareness that transcends her age. Is she romanticizing, or observing objectively? Editor: It’s hard to say, really. In the 18th century, portraiture served a social function. Displaying oneself to project status, power, connection. Do you think this could be considered a study for the subject of the picture, a preparation phase of an unfinished oil on canvas painting perhaps? Curator: I would love that; but if it’s all Cotes had to say, the mood created between the sitter and his hand would suggest something else, and more. If it exists only like this, it makes you consider where her image will ever land, what company this young woman will have for eternity! Editor: I see what you mean. It becomes less about her social standing and more about… potential? Or potential lost? Either way, Cotes certainly captures a compelling, if fleeting, moment. It allows us a glimpse of her interior life. Curator: Precisely. It’s a portrait that whispers rather than shouts. A lovely interlude on paper. Editor: Indeed, something profound in its quietude. Thank you.