Studie af mand der trækker i et reb. 1907

Curator: Welcome, everyone. We are looking at Othon Friesz’s 1907 graphite drawing on paper titled, "Studie af mand der trækker i et reb," or, "Study of a Man Pulling a Rope," here at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: It's intense, isn't it? The energy just leaps off the paper! You feel the strain, the pull. It reminds me of trying to start an old lawnmower, all that effort in one quick burst. Curator: The sketch is so expressive, capturing movement with remarkable economy. Friesz was working in that early 20th-century modernist ferment, when artists were really interrogating what constituted representation. How to convey not just likeness, but also experience, feeling. Editor: Exactly. He wasn’t interested in photographic realism. It’s all about the suggestion of muscles straining. That almost violent gesture with the graphite...he gets across the grit and the determination, without all the fiddly detail. There is such truth to it. Curator: It's important to understand the context. Friesz, initially a Fauvist, was very engaged with social realism, the depiction of ordinary people at work. But he was no romantic. There's no idealization of labour here. Editor: I like how the line work dances between observation and invention. Like, is that hand truly gripping something or is it more about the feeling of gripping? Maybe it is a metaphor about how the laboring class must clench a hold of every oppurtunity they get, with this new rise of unionized movements that started coming out of the 19th century. It hits that nerve of lived reality, all tension and raw physicality. Curator: A detail not often discussed is Friesz’s involvement in avant-garde circles deeply interested in working-class movements. This piece, perhaps unintentionally, almost hints at those struggles, the push-and-pull of societal forces at the turn of the century. Editor: It's pretty incredible how such a simple drawing can convey so much. It doesn’t sit still. You feel compelled to watch it over and over again. Each time, I see another facet. I am very moved by its sheer physicality. Curator: Well said. "Studie af mand der trækker i et reb" remains powerful because of its capacity to reveal the human form under pressure and under constraint, a mirror reflecting our constant exertion. Editor: A great piece, isn’t it? It will stick with me, for sure.