Charles Gifford; verso: Head of a Baby 1861

Curator: Here we have a delicate pencil sketch, "Charles Gifford; verso: Head of a Baby," by Sanford Robinson Gifford, who was born in 1823 and died in 1880. It's a rather small work, only about 6 by 4 inches. Editor: Immediately, I'm struck by the almost haunting quality of the portrait. The lines are so tentative, as if Gifford were trying to capture a fleeting thought. Curator: Exactly. There's a rawness, an intimacy to it. The visible strokes and erasures tell a story of the artist's process, his search for the right line, the perfect expression. Editor: And it's that incompleteness that gives it such power. It's like a ghost of a person, almost there, but not quite. The baby on the other side probably added to that ephemeral sensation. Curator: That's a beautiful way to put it. One can almost feel Gifford's hand moving across the paper, trying to immortalize his brother, Charles. Editor: Yes, this brief encounter certainly leaves us contemplating the subtleties of capturing a person's presence through art.