[title not known] 

Curator: I find this sketch by John Flaxman so evocative. It's housed at the Tate, and while untitled, the pencil work on this 198 x 156 mm support shows a figure in what appears to be a gothic architectural niche. Editor: The starkness of the graphite against the page makes it feel almost spectral. You can sense the pressure of the pencil in the darker lines, which must have required some strength to make. Curator: I think it's more of a quiet strength, an inner resolve. The way the figure is draped, almost swallowed by the fabric, suggests contemplation, perhaps even grief. Editor: Perhaps! Or maybe this is about the economics of image production at the time. Graphite was cheaper than paint, more accessible to a wider range of artists and artisans. This could be a study for something grander. Curator: Maybe. I prefer to think about the solitary act of creation, the artist channeling some inner vision. It is all so beautiful, isn't it? Editor: It is, especially when we acknowledge the social and material conditions that made it possible. That is what makes it so beautiful.