Head of a Woman 1894

Curator: This delicate drawing is "Head of a Woman" by Adolph Menzel. The work resides here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels almost ghostly. The wispy lines create a sense of fleeting beauty, like a half-formed memory rendered in charcoal. Curator: Menzel was a master of observation, and the visible process, the very labor, is part of the art. He captures a likeness while revealing the means of its production. Think about the cultural status of drawing at the time, not quite painting but essential to academic training. Editor: True, and the gaze she directs downward… I wonder what it suggests about the role of women, their societal expectations, in late 19th-century Berlin. Was she looking at her labor? Curator: Perhaps. The suggestive quality is what draws me in. It highlights that there isn't any definite date for the piece, and even the sitter's story is lost to time. Editor: Indeed. It prompts us to consider the artist's perception and the sitter’s own place within that era's visual landscape. Curator: Ultimately, Menzel's technical mastery with the medium of drawing makes this piece so memorable. Editor: Absolutely, something about the raw emotion conveyed with so few lines stays with you.