Susanne 19th-20th century

Curator: This is Charles Albert Waltner's "Susanne," held here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It’s a rather delicate etching, almost dreamlike, with the figure emerging from shadow. Ethereal. Curator: Etchings, particularly during Waltner's time, involved skilled labor, from preparing the metal plate to the precise application of acid, a process tied to industrial advances. Editor: It also evokes a sense of classical allegory, the bathing woman almost caught mid-thought, reflective of something just out of grasp. Like a memory forming, fading. Curator: The materiality emphasizes a remove from the subject, mediated by the industrial process, mirroring societal shifts in viewing the female form and its representations. Editor: Well, for me, it’s more intimate than removed. I’m drawn to the contrast; the starkness, balanced with the softness of light. Curator: I see the social tensions more clearly now. Editor: Agreed, and it’s a beautiful, strange little thing, isn’t it?