Sketchbook with 47 pages c. 1776

Editor: This is "Sketchbook with 47 pages," by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, and it resides in the Harvard Art Museums. The worn green cover gives it a tactile, intimate quality. What elements of its construction stand out to you? Curator: The book's materiality is quite striking. The texture, the very visible wear and tear, it speaks to a history of use. Consider the color: the faded green, its variations, the way it interacts with the implied contents. Editor: So, the color and texture are essential visual components in themselves? Curator: Precisely. They generate meaning beyond the book's function. The scuffs, the faded pigment – they are signifiers of time and artistic process. It is a fascinating case study in the semiotics of the everyday object. Editor: I never thought about a sketchbook cover holding so much information! Curator: Art exists in layers.