Sketchbook ("Rouen/ Dijon/ Lyons"): Portrait Studies c. 1902 - 1905

Curator: This is John Singer Sargent's "Sketchbook ("Rouen/ Dijon/ Lyons"): Portrait Studies," currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It looks unassuming at first glance, almost like a blank canvas. The textile cover itself speaks of functionality and travel. Curator: Indeed, the raw material tells a story of production. This isn't high art presented in a gilded frame but a functional object meant for labor. I imagine Sargent carrying this, absorbing faces and places. Editor: And those faces, though unseen, still resonate! The sketchbook promises secrets, holding within its pages a cultural record of his journey. There’s an intimate quality to it, inviting speculation about the lives he encountered. Curator: Precisely. The labor is tangible, even in the simple act of binding this book. It's a manufactured object enabling artistic creation. Editor: A vessel then, carrying impressions and potential narratives! The cover itself becomes a symbolic threshold. Curator: It's quite interesting to consider the social context of such an object. Editor: Absolutely, it enriches our understanding of the art within. Thanks for that material perspective!