Faint Sketch of a Woman's Head 1805 - 1824

Curator: This is Jacques-Louis David's "Faint Sketch of a Woman's Head," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It measures approximately 21 by 16.4 centimeters. Editor: The delicacy is striking. The sketch is barely there, almost lost within the page itself. I’m immediately drawn to the implied labor, the hand behind that barely-visible line. Curator: Indeed. David’s control of line and form, even in such a preliminary state, is remarkable. Note the careful rendering of the profile, the suggestion of volume with so few strokes. It seems almost neoclassical in its restraint. Editor: But what kind of paper is it? Its texture must have played a role in how easily those lines were made. The faintness speaks to a deliberate frugality, making the most of limited materials. Curator: The form supersedes the medium. The sketch is an exercise in pure line and proportion, a study divorced from the messiness of the world. Editor: I see the world embedded in the materials. It makes me wonder where he sourced them. Curator: Ultimately, it's about the artist's hand and eye. Editor: To me, it's the means of production.