Høne med sine kyllinger i en cirkulær komposition. 1817 - 1875

P.C. Skovgaard made this study of a hen and chicks with pencil and wash on paper. The delicate lines and transparent washes are traditional art materials, and yet they are put to the service of something quite ordinary, a mother hen watching over her brood. You can see the grid that Skovgaard used to transfer the sketch to a larger format. These lines feel almost like a cage, and the monochromatic palette gives this otherwise idyllic scene a somewhat somber tone. There's a lot of care in the observation. Skovgaard wasn't just interested in the picturesque; he wanted to understand the structure and behavior of these creatures. The way he has rendered the feathers, for example, shows a real attentiveness to texture and form. The drawing has an interesting tension. It brings a fine art sensibility to an everyday subject, inviting us to contemplate the beauty and dignity of the natural world and how it relates to our own, often more manufactured lives.