Sand2023

her achievements in the literary, political, and personal realms, her work as a visual artist remains little known.

Like most women of Sand’s class, drawing instruction was a core component of her formative education, along with music and dance. She also learned by copying from the Old Masters, a practice common among professional artists. Indeed, Sand drew consistently throughout her life, experimenting with a range of techniques and subject matter, and she often carried a sketchbook with her on her travels. Sand’s sharp eye for physiognomy and the expression of individual character served her equally well as both a writer and an artist. For instance, a series of early figure studies displays a remarkable facility with capturing likenesses, and she considered a career as a portraitist before her first novel appeared in 1830. During this period Sand also drew numerous flowers, plants, landscapes, and architectural views, the latter sometimes conjured from her imagination. Many of these works were intended as decorations for wooden keepsakes called “Spa boxes” after the Belgian resort town where they originated. These are competent if conventional works in both imagery and technique, though there are several outstanding exceptions such as the charming Rococo head of a woman from a snuff box and the delicate collage of a spiky thistle. (cat. nos. 1, 8) Sand’s attentiveness to the texture and detail