Toscha Seidel Playing the Violin 19th-20th century

Curator: Here we have Denman Waldo Ross's drawing, "Toscha Seidel Playing the Violin," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It’s a pencil study, seemingly incomplete. Editor: Incomplete, yet powerful. I’m immediately struck by the geometric grid overlaid on the portrait. It feels almost like an attempt to dissect the musician's essence. Curator: Precisely. These geometric forms—squares, triangles, radiating lines—speak to a search for underlying harmony. Ross seems to be visualizing the mathematical underpinnings of beauty itself, perhaps as it relates to musical harmony. Editor: And the medium itself, pencil, is so immediate, so easily reworked. It highlights the artist's process—the labor of aligning image with ideal. I imagine Ross constantly adjusting, trying to perfect his subject through a process of refinement. Curator: The incomplete nature of the drawing then almost becomes a virtue. The exposed scaffolding hints at the pursuit of perfection. Editor: It’s a window into artistic labor, a tangible record of an intellectual and artistic engagement with proportion, form, and the very nature of music. Curator: Indeed. Ross is seeking a universal principle of beauty, a visual echo of the music itself. Editor: It's almost humbling, seeing such visible effort made to harness such skill and beauty. Curator: Indeed. A beautiful exploration by Ross.