Study of Eros for "Eros and Psyche," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 19th-20th century

Editor: Here we have John Singer Sargent’s “Study of Eros for ‘Eros and Psyche’”, housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a charcoal sketch, and I find the figure’s pose quite vulnerable. What's your take on this study? Curator: Consider the time. Sargent, working in the late 19th century, was navigating a world grappling with evolving understandings of gender and sexuality. How does this classical subject matter, rendered with such visible vulnerability, challenge or reinforce the rigid gender roles of his era? Editor: That’s a great point! So it is also about questioning norms? Curator: Precisely. The sketch might be read as Sargent's subtle commentary on the performative nature of masculinity. What does Eros, a god of desire, look like when stripped of power? Editor: I hadn't considered it that way. Seeing it now as a statement rather than just a study makes me rethink the intention. Curator: Absolutely. Art often functions as a mirror, reflecting and refracting the social anxieties and aspirations of its time.