Male Head in Profile 19th-20th century

Curator: Here we have Denman Waldo Ross’s drawing, "Male Head in Profile," housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. It measures approximately 28 by 21.5 centimeters. Editor: There’s a kind of tentative quality to the lines, like the artist is searching for the inner character as much as the outer form. A feeling of quiet observation. Curator: Absolutely. The visible construction lines and the soft graphite reveal the process, the very labor of creating this image, making it feel immediate and accessible. Editor: But even as a sketch, that profile echoes classical sculpture, an eternal ideal viewed through a contemporary lens. It's not just a likeness; it's a statement. Curator: Perhaps about the enduring power of classical forms, replicated through the mundane means of pencil and paper? Editor: Precisely. It suggests timelessness. Curator: It’s fascinating how something so seemingly simple in its construction can carry such a weight. Editor: Yes, a dialogue between tradition and the act of making.