Seated Girl 1870 - 1871

Editor: Here we have John Singer Sargent's "Seated Girl," a delicate pencil sketch currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It feels so fleeting, like a memory fading at the edges. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, Sargent, always capturing the ephemeral. For me, it's the intimacy. You feel like you're peeking into a private moment, a stolen glance at childhood. Notice how the lines are suggestive, not definitive. It's about capturing a feeling, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Absolutely. The incompleteness adds to the charm. I was initially distracted by the little theatre mask. It made me wonder whether it was a portrait, a study of props, or something else entirely. Curator: Exactly! Sargent often blurred those lines. The mask could be a symbol, a playful element, or just a thing he happened to see. It's up to us to decide what it all means. That's the beauty of a sketch like this, isn't it? Editor: It is. I'll look at sketches with new appreciation now.