top af mast 1885

Curator: Looking at "top af mast," made by Joakim Skovgaard around 1885, my immediate sense is one of sparsity. An elegant sparseness. What do you think? Editor: Indeed. It is as though one holds a pencil and a large field of paper, with minimal strokes to draw up that structure to achieve this effect. We are looking at a sketch, in pencil on paper, from the collection of the SMK, and that sparseness suggests… incompleteness? Absence? Curator: I disagree on "absence". To me, the unfinished state contributes to its potent symbolism. Masts are a universal symbol for voyages, ventures, risks. Editor: Risks, yes. As the only concrete thing shown here it looms large, doesn't it? Yet it is isolated, cropped so tightly that the mast loses the sense of the larger vessel. That emphasizes that "risk", the lone element against the vast nothing that seems the work's core. Curator: That's an interesting reading! Perhaps this emphasizes the personal, individual daring required for such journeys. And maybe we, today, can see that boldness retroactively, through our awareness of the Vikings? Their explorations surely echo when viewing this artwork. Editor: It reminds us of Skovgaard’s moment in time and history, especially that the artwork remains unfinished in itself and can therefore be regarded with greater artistic appreciation now, more than 100 years later, when viewed in our context, but you make an important point, regarding memory. Curator: Perhaps this simplicity creates universality; a dream or memory of setting out. One may have lost its specificity in a wash of archetypal hopes. Editor: Well put. The visual elements create and play with concepts of personal strength versus environmental conditions and fate; so indeed its accessibility becomes clearer. Curator: It feels fitting that our discussion moved in a similar trajectory! A start toward shared clarity. Editor: Yes. Art speaks across eras in a surprising convergence, a shared understanding beyond the formal construction.