I believe that witnessing and studying someone’s art is the equivalent to peering through the looking glass of that individual’s perspective on life. We all walk through this world with our own unique outlook, and I believe that art can reveal insight into someone else’s outlook that we otherwise wouldn’t have. 

In Roger Fry’s sketchbook, I gained insight into his interpretation of life through art. I was most interested in Fry’s unfinished thoughts left behind within the pages of his sketchbook as random swirling lines free falling in an otherwise empty page. These reveal the vulnerability of an artist and give viewers insight into the raw features of an artist’s practice. I couldn’t help but ask myself what these lines had intended to become and why they had been left behind. Most importantly, (as someone who enjoys art as a hobby) these lingering lines reminded me that art isn’t “perfect” but instead it is about practice. Fry demonstrates how to be honest and open in your practices as an artist when it comes to initiating a sketch. 

I believe the purpose of this sketchbook was not only for Fry to improve his studies and theories of art, but also to explore the interaction between humanity and portraiture through practicing. The book felt very intimate. It felt as though I was looking through Fry’s diary of images and sketches. The viewer of the sketchbook can see minor shifts in Fry’s style, yet each illustration is undeniably in possession of Fry’s artistic hand. His style uses a myriad of lines to create impressions of shadows and other features of the human face.

In Fry’s Vision and Design under “Art and Life” on page 15, Fry states, “It (the modern art movement) cuts out all the romantic overtones of life which are the usual bait by which men are induced to accept a work of art. It appeals only to the aesthetic sensibility.” I interpret this excerpt as Fry stating that art has shed its romantic and mythological aesthetic for a more raw and intimate interaction between the viewer and the piece. I believe he practices the above quote through his sketched portraits of people (both complete and incomplete) in the sketchbook. Although the pieces themselves are not within the style of realism, the emotion communicated through his sketched subject’s expressions is arguably more real than the classical paintings that flourished during periods, such as the renaissance.