[title not known] 

Curator: This intriguing sketch, currently untitled, comes to us from the hand of Prince Hoare, an artist active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It resides in the Tate Collections and is rendered on a support measuring 323 by 200 millimeters. Editor: There's a fragility to it, isn't there? A sense of fleeting movement, emphasized by the quick, light strokes. It feels like a whispered observation. Curator: Indeed. Hoare's use of graphite allows us to consider the labor involved in such preliminary works. Was this a study for a larger composition? A reflection on the social roles of women carrying goods? Editor: I think so. The woman's stance, her clothing, even the way she holds the object - it all speaks to the intersection of gender and class in the 18th century. Who was she? What was her life like? Curator: And what were the conditions of the production of her very clothes, the box she carries? These sketches open up lines of inquiry extending far beyond the singular image. Editor: Precisely. It challenges us to look beyond aesthetics and consider the complex realities of the time. Curator: It leaves me thinking about the artist’s process, and the life of those whose labor supported his artmaking. Editor: And for me, it highlights the countless untold stories of women whose work and lives often go unacknowledged in art history.