Draped Female Figure 1870 - 1873

Editor: So this is James McNeill Whistler's "Draped Female Figure," a pencil drawing from around 1870-1873. The figure’s pose and the fall of the drapery have a very classical feel to them, but something about the unfinished quality gives it a modern edge. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It speaks to me of memory, and the way certain archetypes persist across cultures and time periods. The draped figure is, of course, ancient – we see it in Greek sculpture, Renaissance painting – a symbol of mourning, of grace, of the eternal feminine. But Whistler renders it in such a way that we are also aware of its impermanence, its fragility. The pencil lines are delicate, almost tentative. Do you see how the lines that delineate the drapery evoke similar representations that can be found in sarcophagi from the Roman period? Editor: Yes, I see that! It is a fleeting impression though, which feels more modern to me. What does that tension between those temporal readings suggest to you? Curator: The tension between the classical form and the modern treatment suggests, perhaps, the way the past always informs the present. We carry these inherited symbols and meanings with us, even as we reinterpret them through our own experiences. Think about the symbolic significance of veiling for example: its meaning has radically changed over time and location. And the face remains hidden from us in this sketch… Editor: That makes me think about how we are constantly layering new meanings onto old forms. Even in this quick sketch. Curator: Precisely! And in that layering, we reveal something about ourselves, about our own place in the ongoing narrative of human experience. Ultimately the symbols that artists deploy speak volumes. Editor: I see that so clearly now! Thanks for sharing your perspective! Curator: My pleasure. I am walking away from this conversation considering how forms retain symbolic resonance.