Sketchbook page c. 1776

Curator: Here we have a sketchbook page by Gabriel Jacques de Saint-Aubin, held in the collections of the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: There's a certain lightness to it. She looks almost as though she's floating. Curator: Saint-Aubin was fascinated by the theater, depicting performers and audiences frequently. This quick sketch offers insight into the labor of performance, the ways bodies were fashioned for display. Editor: Indeed, the material conditions of the theater are palpable. But also, I can't help but think about how these sketches circulated—what role they played in Saint-Aubin's broader social engagement. Curator: A useful reminder of the context in which artistic creation takes place. Editor: Precisely. There is so much we can learn when we look beyond what's pictured.