Female Torso 19th-20th century

Editor: Here we have Paul Bartlett's "Female Torso", currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. Seeing this sculpture, I'm struck by the elegance of its form, even in its incompleteness. What whispers to you when you look at this piece? Curator: Oh, the allure of the fragment! It's almost like a memory, isn't it? Bartlett invites us to complete the story, to imagine the head, the arms, the context. The sculptor teases with the tension of what's present and what's missing. Does the rough base ground the figure or leave her stranded, do you think? Editor: That tension is palpable. Thanks, that gives me so much more to think about. Curator: My pleasure. It's always about seeing with fresh eyes, isn't it?