Nude Study of David 1923

Curator: This drawing is Denman Waldo Ross's "Nude Study of David," created in May of 1923 and currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels very tentative. The geometric grid combined with the soft shading gives an almost architectural structure to something organic and very human. Curator: Ross was deeply involved with the Arts and Crafts movement and Arthur Wesley Dow's compositional theories; you see how he grounds his art in design principles. Editor: The figure's posture—head in hands, the slump of the shoulders—it all conveys a sense of melancholy. Is he a David weighed down by his future, by history itself? Curator: I wonder if the "David" of the title is less about the biblical figure and more about the artistic tradition of male nudes, a young man reflecting on artistic burdens. Editor: A tension exists between the precision of the geometric background and the raw emotion projected by David. What could that conflict represent within Ross' world? Curator: This piece encourages us to consider what underlies representation itself, the push and pull between concept and emotion. Editor: Ultimately, it's a testament to the complexities inherent in attempting to capture human form and feeling with line and form.