Slight Sketch of Crucified Christ c. 1880 - 1881

Curator: This is John Singer Sargent’s "Slight Sketch of Crucified Christ," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It's incredibly faint, almost ethereal. The roughness of the paper seems to swallow the image. Curator: The crucifixion is such a potent symbol. Sargent, known for his portraits of worldly figures, here grapples with spiritual iconography. What cultural anxieties or personal beliefs might have led him to this subject? Editor: I'm curious about the graphite itself. Was this a study? An underdrawing? The quick, almost hesitant marks speak to a process—a testing of form and light. Curator: It’s a fascinating contrast to his more finished works. It reveals a more vulnerable, perhaps even searching, side of the artist, a shared humanity. Editor: Right. It's the labor involved. The material speaks to doubt, experimentation. Curator: Indeed, it offers a quiet, almost private, meditation on a universally recognized symbol. Editor: I see more of the physical process of drawing here than in his slicker works. Interesting!