Proprietær Otte Lawaetz 1906

This bronze bust of Proprietær Otte Lawaetz by Johannes Kragh shows off the beauty of bronze and the process of modeling. Look at the way Kragh has worked the surface: it's not smooth, it’s a record of each touch and manipulation. This is what I love about sculpture - you feel the artist's hand. The whole piece has this beautiful, shifting color, a warmth with flecks of blue-green oxidation. Look particularly at the crinkled flesh around the eyes. You can see the marks where Kragh added and subtracted clay, building up the form. Each groove and wrinkle tells a story, not just of Lawaetz’s face, but of Kragh’s process, his curiosity, and the way he saw the world. Think of Medardo Rosso, who worked with wax to capture fleeting moments. Kragh, like Rosso, isn’t just making a portrait. He's capturing a feeling, a life lived, through the act of making. Art is always a conversation, a process of trying to understand and represent the world, one mark at a time.