Oriental Dancer with Legs Crossed c. 19th century

Curator: There’s something so vulnerable about this figure. It’s like a glimpse into a private moment. Editor: The Harvard Art Museums hold this watercolor attributed to an imitator of Auguste Rodin. It's called “Oriental Dancer with Legs Crossed.” I think the loose brushstrokes really amplify the feeling of intimacy you picked up on. Curator: Yes! It is incredibly delicate, almost like it was captured in a dream. But the title hints at the exoticism often projected onto the "Orient" in Western art. Editor: Absolutely. We can't ignore the problematic history of representing non-Western cultures. But the work's incompleteness also resists a solid definition. It prompts questions about our own projections. Curator: True, it dances between being a study and an assertion, doesn’t it? I find that ambiguity quite powerful. Editor: Me too; it invites us to really grapple with the act of seeing, and the politics of representation.