Study of a Soldier in Profile (recto and verso) 1861

Editor: Sanford Robinson Gifford’s pencil sketch, "Study of a Soldier in Profile," just strikes me as vulnerable, somehow. What do you see in this fleeting glimpse? Curator: Fleeting indeed! Look at the light touch, the almost hesitant lines, as if Gifford's capturing not just a man, but a ghost of a feeling. Perhaps it's the intimacy, the sense of quiet contemplation before the storm. Don't you get that sense, too? Editor: Definitely. Thanks, I hadn’t considered the ghost of a feeling before. Curator: My pleasure. These sketches often hold the most powerful secrets, don't they?