Basil Parker 1927

Curator: Denman Waldo Ross created this graphite drawing, “Basil Parker,” in 1927, now held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It strikes me immediately as an almost scientific rendering, cool and analytical despite being a portrait. Curator: The rigid lines cutting through the subject suggest an exploration of form and symmetry, reflecting the artist's formalist leanings and the academic study of ideal beauty. It could be viewed as a commentary on the objectification inherent in portraiture. Editor: Those lines read to me like an attempt to capture something deeper than the surface, a symbolic mapping of inherent balance and harmony. Curator: Perhaps both. By dissecting the face, Ross invites us to question the power dynamics between artist and sitter and, broadly, how beauty is perceived and codified. Editor: Absolutely, and in doing so, he's given us a potent symbol of youthful contemplation caught within a web of calculated, if idealized, order.