X-radiograph(s) of "Waiting Room" 

Curator: This is an X-radiograph of "Waiting Room," originally by Honoré-Victorin Daumier, currently residing in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: My first impression is one of ghostly ambiguity, a veiled representation hinting at something obscured. Curator: The X-ray reveals the layered construction beneath the visible surface, the materiality of the canvas and paint. Note how the density varies, suggesting reworkings. Editor: Exactly. It's about the process of creation, the labor and the revision, not just the finished image. What's been taken out and what’s been built up? Curator: It's fascinating how the medium itself, the X-ray, transforms the artwork into an object of scientific scrutiny. Editor: It’s almost a deconstruction, bringing hidden effort into view and challenging the notion of the art object as something precious or untouchable. Curator: Indeed, this image shifts our focus from aesthetic appreciation to the very material conditions of its making. Editor: A ghost of a painting, revealing its past in its present.