Male Portrait Head 19th-20th century

Curator: The tentative lines of Denman Waldo Ross' "Male Portrait Head" give it a certain vulnerability, don't you think? Editor: Yes, and at 14 by 10 inches, the scale feels quite intimate, almost like a private sketch. I’m drawn to the cross-hatching; you can almost feel the pressure of the pencil. Curator: It is interesting how the visible marks of labor, in the graphite lines, contrast with the bourgeois attire of the sitter. Editor: I wonder about the context of its creation, given Ross’s academic ties with Harvard. It seems a departure from the highly stylized works promoted in academic circles. Curator: Perhaps a preliminary study, then? The materiality does lend itself to that idea. Editor: Regardless, it's a captivating reminder of the socio-political forces at play even in seemingly simple sketches. Curator: True. It makes one consider the value we place on such materials in the grand scheme of art history. Editor: Indeed. A reminder that every portrait holds layers of meaning beyond the subject's likeness.