Girl's hand 1800 - 1966

Curator: What a fascinating piece! This is "Girl's Hand" attributed to Auguste Rodin, although the dating is quite broad, between 1800 and 1966. It’s currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: It's surprisingly intimate for something potentially from Rodin, who I usually associate with large scale works. The stark whiteness of the sculpture coupled with the hand’s gentle, almost hesitant, pose, gives it a vulnerable feel. What material is it made of? It looks rather fragile. Curator: Its composition offers insights into Rodin’s, or perhaps an unknown sculptor’s understanding of realism within decorative arts. It’s about capturing an essential form—the grace and fragility we associate with childhood, a hand frozen mid-gesture. Given that broad timeframe, it's fascinating to consider it in different historical and social contexts. Could it be a memento, a fragment representing loss or remembrance, especially in relation to the labor practices, such as child labor, and associated exploitation of the era it comes from? Editor: Yes, labor is definitely central to how I view this. A hand—the instrument of labor—captured in such stillness raises questions. What sort of work would that young girl have been doing? We know the period, though vaguely. I am intrigued by its surface and the way the material has been worked; you can sense the shaping of it and its potential casting. That is labor itself. And what of the labor it then embodies—or should embody? Curator: That’s an astute point. And looking at it through a contemporary lens, we can also examine ideas around representation. Who has the power to represent this girl, to capture her image and, in essence, fix her identity? Editor: It invites a reflection on who is doing the handling – of clay, of materials, and of narratives. There is definitely something potent here. It challenges boundaries between high art, object, craft, representation, all anchored to its physicality, a poignant consideration of the relationship between making, maker, subject, and audience. Curator: Absolutely. Viewing the art through the lens of labor adds even another, poignant layer of meaning to this modest object, prompting questions around exploitation, documentation and artistic choices involved. Editor: It goes to show how a focused consideration of material conditions, labor, and making can reframe our interpretation of seemingly simple object. It speaks volumes if we only care to look beyond just subject.