Plantestudie 1906 - 1910

This plant study was made by Niels Larsen Stevns, and like a lot of drawings, it probably started as a quick observation. The first thing I notice is how Larsen Stevns uses line, it’s all about the directness. He’s letting us see the energy of his mark-making! The lines are scratchy, kind of messy, but they give the plant a real sense of movement. I love that you can see the artist thinking through the act of drawing. Look at the bottom left, there’s a leaf there that is only partially drawn. I'm drawn to how he is thinking about the relationship of the plant to the surface it occupies. There’s something so alive in that incompleteness; it feels like the plant is growing right before your eyes. It feels like an early Twombly. What do you think?