Studier af fugle 1864 - 1941

Editor: Here we have Niels Larsen Stevns' "Studier af fugle," created sometime between 1864 and 1941. It's a drawing in pencil and colored pencil on paper, currently held at the SMK. The lines are so faint, it gives the impression of catching a fleeting moment. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: For me, it is essential to consider the materials at play here. The artist uses pencil and colored pencil—readily available and relatively inexpensive materials—on paper. These choices inherently speak to the accessibility of artistic production. Are we looking at a formal study? Or, is this perhaps a sketch from a larger, more politically charged, commentary on consumption? Editor: That's an interesting point. I hadn't thought about it in terms of consumption. Do you see this as the artist maybe experimenting with color, too? Curator: Exactly! Colored pencil as a medium, even today, occupies a strange liminal space between fine art and craft. Is the artist elevating the status of these ordinary materials through his skill? How does this fit into a possible historical context of emerging consumer culture? Were these types of mass manufactured pencils readily available? How did this new availability impact the creation of art? Editor: I didn't realize how much could be gleaned from just the materials themselves. Thinking about it in terms of production and consumption changes the whole perspective. Curator: Precisely. The medium *is* the message. Editor: Thanks for pointing that out, I'll never look at colored pencil the same way again.