Studie til Frederik VI med farveangivelser 1930 - 1938

Curator: This drawing by Niels Larsen Stevns, titled "Studie til Frederik VI med farveangivelser," was created sometime between 1930 and 1938. It's a study rendered in pencil on paper, and part of the collection here at the SMK. Editor: It feels incredibly fragile. Like catching a glimpse into the artist's sketchbook— a fleeting thought, jotted down. The colours scribbled as words rather than painted as hues…there’s something very vulnerable about this peek into process. Curator: Indeed, it's an intimate look behind the scenes. We see Stevns grappling with how to portray Frederick VI, noting specific colour values right onto the sketch. The use of written colour notes, directly onto the study itself, really shows his practical considerations in developing the larger painting. Editor: And a touch melancholy, don't you think? The sketch feels almost ghostly, a figure emerging from the paper itself, and yet still somehow caught. This contrasts sharply with the grand, powerful imagery we expect of royal portraiture, presenting something raw. Curator: I see your point. In its time, academic portraiture, even in studies, played a critical role in cementing public image and national identity. Even unfinished, a portrait of a king carried considerable symbolic weight, representing power and legitimacy. So this piece allows one to consider what of that weight comes across in preliminary form. Editor: Exactly. There’s an unvarnished honesty here, in the hesitant lines, and colour call outs – 'bla' several times, meaning blue – it almost screams of a human reaching to touch an icon, rather than celebrating authority. What do you feel looking at it? Curator: The drawing reminds us that even the most formal depictions of authority are born from an artist’s individual effort. Studying sketches like this enriches our understanding, showing that national icons emerge through many decisions, not by divine creation! Editor: It feels like this shows Frederick caught in amber, about to emerge into a fully realized icon. The fragility combined with that hint of power… intriguing.