Skovinteriør, udkast 1844 - 1846

This is Skovinteriør, udkast, a pencil drawing made by Dankvart Dreyer sometime in the first half of the 19th century. On first viewing, you could be forgiven for thinking that this drawing has no material qualities to speak of. However, it is precisely the apparent lack of ‘presence’ that holds the key to its appeal. The image is barely there, a ghost of an idea. The pencil lines seem more like a passing thought than a deliberate act of creation. Dreyer’s light touch is well suited to his subject – a forest interior. The pencil’s inherent capacity for generating infinite gradations of tone and texture mimics the dappled light and tangled undergrowth of the woods. Yet this ephemeral quality is in itself the result of a very material process. Dreyer has used his pencil to capture a fleeting moment in time. It is through the very act of drawing, in the repetitive use of simple lines, that the artist has managed to evoke a sense of place and atmosphere. And so, we are reminded that art is always a product of the relationship between maker, materials, and milieu.