Study of Lower Legs and an Arm 1815 - 1840

Curator: This is "Study of Lower Legs and an Arm," dating from sometime between 1815 and 1840, by William Pitts. It's currently residing here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's a drawing rendered with pencil. There's an unsettling quality to the raw physicality depicted with such directness. What do you see when you look at it? Editor: Well, immediately, I'm drawn to the… the labor implied in the sketch itself. The repetition of lines, almost a frantic quality, it speaks volumes about the artist's process and the materiality of the work, the paper and the pencil lead itself. Can you expand on that? Curator: Absolutely. Think about academic art and its obsession with capturing the ideal human form, yet look at the economy of means here. Pitts uses readily available materials – paper and pencil – cheap tools, to deconstruct this idealized form into component parts. Is this an act of democratizing art? A comment on the industrialization of the art world itself? What purpose might he have had, depicting body parts? Editor: Perhaps critiquing the commodification of the human form, showing these pieces separately removes any complete figure and maybe that emphasizes this point of mass production in a capitalist context. I think this adds a fascinating dimension. Curator: Precisely! And the imperfections! Observe how he doesn't shy away from depicting flaws, disrupting classical notions of beauty, isn’t it thought-provoking? Editor: Definitely changes my perception. I was initially put off by its starkness. Now, considering it in relation to production of art and its critique adds real depth. Curator: Indeed. By stripping away the artifice, Pitts forces us to confront the labor and materials inherent in both art making and, perhaps, the objectification of the human body. We see, feel the effort and its purpose anew, I believe.