About this artwork
Curator: Here we have John Singer Sargent’s "Study of Male Nude, for "Apollo and the Muses," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's such freedom in this sketch! It feels airy, like the figure is almost floating, despite the careful detail in his musculature. Curator: Sargent was working within a lineage of academic figure drawing, but his study complicates traditional power dynamics by focusing on the male form with an almost sensuous gaze. Editor: Hmmm, sensuous, yes, but perhaps also vulnerable? The unfinished limbs hint at a fragile, human quality, beyond the heroic ideal. Curator: Indeed, it's a fascinating dialogue between classical form and a very modern sensibility. Editor: It certainly gives you pause to think about the male gaze, doesn't it? And the beauty of the unfinished.
Study of Male Nude, for "Apollo and the Muses," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
1916 - 1921
Artwork details
- Dimensions
- actual: 62.2 x 48.3 cm (24 1/2 x 19 in.)
- Location
- Harvard Art Museums
- Copyright
- CC0 1.0
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About this artwork
Curator: Here we have John Singer Sargent’s "Study of Male Nude, for "Apollo and the Muses," Museum of Fine Arts, Boston," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's such freedom in this sketch! It feels airy, like the figure is almost floating, despite the careful detail in his musculature. Curator: Sargent was working within a lineage of academic figure drawing, but his study complicates traditional power dynamics by focusing on the male form with an almost sensuous gaze. Editor: Hmmm, sensuous, yes, but perhaps also vulnerable? The unfinished limbs hint at a fragile, human quality, beyond the heroic ideal. Curator: Indeed, it's a fascinating dialogue between classical form and a very modern sensibility. Editor: It certainly gives you pause to think about the male gaze, doesn't it? And the beauty of the unfinished.
Comments
Share your thoughts