Study for one of Angels at Right, "Israel and the Law," Boston Public Library 1895 - 1916

Editor: This is a sketch by John Singer Sargent, a study for one of the angels in his Boston Public Library murals. The medium is graphite on paper, and I am struck by how muscular the figure appears. How do you approach a work like this? Curator: I am drawn to the materiality of the sketch itself. The paper, the graphite – they speak to a process of production, a step in a larger project of labor and artistic creation. What sort of social or artistic exchange supported this project? Editor: I guess Sargent needed resources to get the materials and to have the time to work. Curator: Exactly. And what does it mean that this study exists separately, now viewed outside the context of its original purpose? It's a fragment of a larger production, but now it circulates as art. Editor: So we are seeing the labor and materials that went into it, but also how its value changes depending on its context. Thanks, this gives me a different perspective. Curator: Indeed, understanding the means of its creation helps us appreciate its complex relationship with labor and value.