The Field Barber 1864

Curator: Here we have "The Field Barber," a charming little print, artist unknown, residing here at the Harvard Art Museums. It strikes me as both whimsical and unsettling. Editor: Unsettling? I see the practicalities of hygiene and perhaps military order. Look at the cloth—likely a cheap, coarse weave, quickly dyed. Curator: Yes, practicality is evident, but also a certain vulnerability. The barber's focused intent, the sitter's bowed head—it's a momentary surrender. Editor: A surrender to social structures, perhaps. These uniforms, the implied hierarchy, all reinforced by the simple act of hair cutting. Who made the dyes? Curator: An invisible hand, indeed! There's a beautiful tension between the known and unknown here. It makes me wonder about the stories held in these tiny figures. Editor: The circulation of materials and people, it's all interconnected. It's nice to be reminded that even the most seemingly simple images have a global story. Curator: Precisely. It's a small scene, but speaks volumes.