Wall Relief of Lions at Denderah, Egypt c. 1891

Editor: So, this is John Singer Sargent’s "Wall Relief of Lions at Denderah, Egypt." It's a pencil drawing, and it feels very immediate, like a quick study. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: I'm struck by what Sargent *chooses* to depict. He wasn't simply recording ancient art. His sketch participates in the 19th-century Western gaze on Egypt. What aspects of Egyptian culture did Sargent, and by extension his audience, find compelling or exotic? Editor: So, it's less about the lions themselves, and more about how they were perceived by Sargent and his contemporaries? Curator: Precisely. Consider how the sketch would have circulated, in exhibitions, publications... contributing to a broader understanding, or perhaps a misrepresentation, of Egyptian culture. Editor: That’s a great point. I never thought about how a simple sketch could be part of a much larger cultural narrative. Curator: Art is always in dialogue with its context.