Sonia 1927

Curator: Here we have Walter Gramatté’s “Sonia.” The work, currently housed here at the Harvard Art Museums, presents a profile of a woman’s head and shoulders rendered in spare lines. Editor: There's a haunting quality to the piece. The contrast between the delicate line work of Sonia herself and the hazy darkness surrounding her head creates an intriguing tension. Curator: Gramatté's choices speak to his engagement with Expressionism, even as he maintains a degree of restraint. The etching process itself would involve layering the plate with a ground, incising the design, and acid-etching the lines. Editor: The deliberate use of line and its absence is striking. The negative space defines the figure, almost as much as the etched lines themselves. There is a semiotic relationship between this use of absence and the concept of personal identity, perhaps. Curator: One might also think about the economics of the printmaking world at this time, and who exactly could afford to acquire these works. It certainly was not the working class. Editor: Indeed. It is food for thought. Curator: It is. I find myself more curious than ever about printmaking.