Dræb mig kun... 1928

Fritz Syberg sketched "Dræb mig kun..." with ink on paper, and it's this kind of raw energy that gets me going. I can imagine him, maybe outside, quickly capturing this scene of swans. There's a real sense of immediacy here. You see it in the scratchy lines that build up the forms, how the swans are both there and not there. Like a memory, or a fleeting thought. I love the looseness. It's as if Syberg is thinking out loud with his pen. He probably wasn't trying to create some perfect rendering of swans, but was more interested in getting a feeling down on paper. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston's late work where he was drawing from life, but also letting his imagination run wild. This piece is like a reminder that art doesn't always have to be so serious. It can be playful, messy, and full of life. It's all about the process, the act of seeing and responding, that’s what connects artists across time.