Head of a Man 1837 - 1911

Curator: Welcome. Before us is "Head of a Man," a drawing by Alphonse Legros, likely created between 1837 and 1911, and rendered in pencil, graphite, and possibly charcoal. It's currently held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Immediately striking is the delicate network of lines forming the man's features. There’s a softness, an almost ethereal quality to the portrait, despite the clear realism attempted. Curator: The density of line work is remarkable; the varied hatching builds form and suggests light in a classical academic tradition. Notice how line direction enhances the curvature of the brow, the slope of the nose. Editor: And yet, knowing the likely socio-economic conditions of artists working in Legros’ time adds another dimension. The repetitious nature of all those individual pencil strokes – there’s labor implied in its creation. One can’t help but wonder about the artist's own toil reflected in the subject's calm demeanor. Curator: Indeed, while the technical skill and artistic training are undeniable, there is something meditative about the marks themselves. It reveals a particular approach to understanding human form via texture, value. The very choice of humble materials creates an intimate experience between artist, subject, and ultimately, viewer. Editor: I agree. Legros elevates these materials to a study of texture. There is no flamboyant color or medium. What we have are only the bare essentials – pencil, paper, skill, and intention to capture an intimate expression, the fruit of artistic labor made available for mass consumption through museums. Curator: The semiotic weight in such reductive media offers a purity of intention, wouldn’t you say? He's focusing on the core, the line and light which define what it is to perceive. Editor: Perhaps... In essence, we are both circling the labor and process – not only by Legros as the artist, but what such focused portraiture required from the sitter and from viewers willing to truly engage with the image as both aesthetic and material form. Curator: It's a drawing that compels us to examine what constitutes the building blocks of portraiture, stripped down to its essence. Editor: Leaving one, in effect, considering the drawing, the artist, and, more implicitly, the socio-economics surrounding their material world.