Study of a Seated Woman c. 1742

Curator: Here we see Charles-Joseph Natoire's "Study of a Seated Woman," housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a certain quiet intimacy to it, a sense of captured fleetingness. Curator: Natoire, who lived from 1700 to 1777, focuses on the interplay of light and shadow, rendered delicately with chalk. Editor: It's the kind of piece that feels very personal. I mean, look at the gestural lines—they imbue the figure with a real sense of living presence. Curator: Precisely. The economy of line, the way the drapery clings—it speaks to his mastery of form and the Rococo aesthetic. The dimensions are also striking, it is rather compact at 31.6 x 23.8 cm. Editor: It reminds me of a whispered secret, or maybe the first thought one has in the morning. The artwork is really enchanting. Curator: It’s a study in possibilities, a dance of suggestion. Editor: Yes, a lovely dance indeed.