Greek Kore 19th-20th century

Editor: Here we have John Singer Sargent's "Greek Kore," housed right here at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a light pencil sketch, quite simple, yet something about its incompleteness is intriguing. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It feels like Sargent is trying to capture the essence of antiquity with a modern eye. Perhaps he saw the Kore as a symbol of enduring beauty, even in fragmented form. What do you make of the unfinished quality? Editor: I initially found it incomplete, but maybe the sketchiness is the point? Curator: Precisely! It's a glimpse, an impression. Like a memory of something grand. Editor: I’ll never look at an unfinished sketch the same way again. Curator: Me neither, it's like Sargent wanted us to complete the thought.