Studier af roser 1930 - 1936

Niels Larsen Stevns made this drawing of roses probably in his sketchbook, with a pencil, searching for the perfect line. I love how these roses emerge with such lightness and confidence. You can almost imagine the artist’s hand moving swiftly across the page, capturing the essence of these flowers with so few marks. I’m guessing he may have been thinking about form, structure, and also the sheer joy of seeing something beautiful and wanting to share that. I’m drawn to the varying pressure of the lines, from the delicate strokes outlining the petals to the bolder marks defining the stems. It’s like Stevns is showing us how to see, not just what to see, urging us to engage with the world around us in a more thoughtful and intentional way. When you see these works alongside those of other artists you begin to understand how artists are constantly looking, learning, and responding to one another's work. It's an exchange of ideas that spans centuries, pretty cool.