Sketches of Mountain Goats 1871

Editor: So, this is John Singer Sargent's "Sketches of Mountain Goats" from around the late 19th, early 20th century, a graphite study at the Harvard Art Museums. There's a liveliness to it. What strikes you when you look at this page of sketches? Curator: I see a rejection of rigid academic constraints. Sargent, known for portraiture of the elite, here engages with the raw energy of the natural world, sidestepping social expectations. How might we interpret his focus on these creatures as a commentary on freedom, on untamed spaces, perhaps even a subtle critique of the constraints of his commissioned work? Editor: That's interesting! I hadn't considered that it could be a commentary on freedom. Curator: Consider also the rapid, gestural lines. Is he capturing just the animal form, or also the spirit of the animal, resistant to domestication? Perhaps Sargent is subtly aligning himself with that resistance. Editor: I've never thought about art that way before. Thanks! Curator: It is important to look at it in a more diverse way. This enriches the narrative.