Statuette c. 1937

Editor: This is Yolande Delasser’s “Statuette” from around 1937. It seems to be a drawing, likely a study for a sculpture, and I find the stark lines against the bare paper create such an isolating mood. What's your read on it? Curator: Isolating, yes, I see that too. And almost theatrical. The figure’s elaborate headwear, the defined costume... it's like a spotlight’s on them. The question, then, becomes: What drama is this figure a part of? Is it a grand historical narrative, or something deeply personal to Delasser? And consider, the drawing itself isn't just representational; it’s evocative. That spindly line work *is* the drama. Editor: You mean, the uncertainty of the lines reflects uncertainty in the subject itself? Curator: Precisely! The piece teeters between clarity and dissolution, doesn't it? What looks like confident costuming dissolves into sketched suggestions. It’s about identity, about solidifying an idea in art and, maybe, in life. This little sculpture drawing then becomes, strangely, monumentally melancholic. Wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Absolutely. Seeing it that way, it definitely hits different now! Thank you for the insight. Curator: The pleasure’s all mine, truly. Sometimes, the sketch is the truest sculpture of all.