Seated Man with a Stick, Smoking a Pipe c. 19th century

Editor: This is Rodolphe Bresdin's "Seated Man with a Stick, Smoking a Pipe." It's a tiny drawing at the Harvard Art Museums. The lines are so sparse, but he captures a sense of contemplation. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The figure’s staff, held aloft, pierces the pictorial space above. Consider how the pipe, a symbol of leisure and perhaps escape, contrasts with the staff, an emblem of journeying. Bresdin was fascinated by the hermit figure, the wanderer. Does the act of smoking then suggest a pause in the wanderer's life? Editor: That's interesting. The pipe as a symbol of pausing. Curator: It's a powerful dichotomy. Bresdin uses familiar cultural symbols to create a tension. The figure seems to be caught between restlessness and repose. Editor: Now that you mention it, I see the duality that you point out. Curator: Yes, Bresdin’s visual vocabulary is quite evocative of liminal states. Editor: Thanks for sharing your expertise.