Vrouwenkop 1838 - 1882

Editor: Rossetti's "Vrouwenkop," likely from the period of 1838 to 1882, is a delicate pencil drawing. The subject’s profile, rendered in such fine lines, has an almost ethereal quality to it. How do you interpret this work, considering Rossetti's context and his techniques? Curator: It's fascinating to consider this work through a materialist lens. The very fact that it’s a drawing, a preparatory stage in Rossetti’s practice, raises questions about the hierarchy between "finished" painting and "mere" sketching. Pencil itself becomes a key point; easily accessible, inexpensive. Did its very availability democratize artistic practice in any way? How many other similar drawings might be circulating? Editor: That's interesting; it highlights the accessibility of the medium. Did the Pre-Raphaelites, known for their detailed paintings, often use pencil sketches like this as a preliminary step? Curator: Precisely! This is not simply a spontaneous act of creation, but labor: the skilled hand repeatedly applying graphite to paper. What kind of paper, from what mill, made by which processes, using what raw material? The pencil drawing could be a commodity produced as a guide for creating higher "art" forms or paintings which are ultimately more valued and therefore can be exchanged at a greater market value. Editor: So, viewing it as a commodity brings new perspectives... Does considering the materials and production also make you think about the access women had to these tools? Curator: Exactly! Examining the socio-economic structures around art-making – the supply chains, workshops, gendered division of labor, questions our received notions about genius and artistic value, forcing us to consider the drawing as a trace of this labor. Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way before! It moves the focus from the idealized image to the practical process. Curator: Precisely. And hopefully complicates it, and invites further investigations of these socio-economic considerations. Editor: Definitely. Now I see this drawing as so much more than just a preliminary sketch.