Study of Hands Holding a Bar; verso: Study of an Arm, Cropped 19th-20th century

Editor: This is John Singer Sargent’s "Study of Hands Holding a Bar," it's a delicate pencil sketch. The hands are drawn with such attention to their grip, you can almost feel the pressure they exert. What's your take? Curator: The interesting aspect here is the *making*. Sargent isn’t presenting a finished ideal, but the *process* of understanding the human form. Consider the labor – his focused, repeated strokes. What kind of social function would a study like this serve? Editor: So, less about the final "art," and more about the artistic labor involved? Interesting! Curator: Precisely! The act of studying, the materiality of pencil on paper, informs our understanding of Sargent's practice, and even the later finished paintings he produced through these studies.