Studie af H. C. Ørsted. Notater 1930 - 1936

Niels Larsen Stevns sketched ‘Studie af H. C. Ørsted. Notater’ with what looks like a graphite pencil in a notebook. I can imagine Niels, with the notebook on his lap, head tilted, trying to capture the likeness of H. C. Ørsted. He’s probably trying to get a sense of Ørsted’s essence, his inner life, through the simple act of drawing. It's like he is peeling back the layers of the subject, figuring out how to depict him with these sparse lines. I see a sensitivity and an attentiveness, not just to the outer appearance but also to the inner character. That's what drawing and painting is all about, isn't it? It's about looking, really looking, and finding the emotional resonance in the subject. It is a conversation, with oneself, and also with other artists across time.