Academy, Standing Figure 

Editor: This is Giles Hussey’s “Academy, Standing Figure,” housed at the Tate. The pencil drawing feels classical but also fragile somehow. What symbols or ideas do you see expressed in this artwork? Curator: Note the figure's contrapposto, a studied relaxation. It echoes classical sculpture but also suggests vulnerability. Hussey aims to capture ideal beauty, but also the ephemerality of youth, doesn't he? What stories do these lines whisper of the past? Editor: That's interesting, I didn't notice the contrapposto stance. It is a shame that the artist did not leave behind more works. Curator: Yes, and perhaps that adds to the power of this image, knowing we can only imagine what other stories he could have told.