Løse skitser af en mand der sidder og tre hunde. 1864 - 1941

This is a graphite sketch of a man and three dogs, by Niels Larsen Stevns. You can see it here at the SMK. It’s all about trying to capture something fleeting. The artist isn’t precious, he isn't trying to make something slick or finished, he just wants to get an idea down as quickly as possible, a feeling, a moment. Look at the texture of the paper, it looks like a page torn from a notebook and folded in quarters. You can see a series of very loose, sketchy drawings of a man sitting down, and nearby, these quickly rendered little dogs. The lines are so minimal, and so tentative. It is like Stevns is thinking through the image right in front of us. You can see similar mark making in the work of Paula Modersohn-Becker, especially her drawings and prints. There's an intimacy and openness to both artists' work. Like they are inviting us into their process, their way of seeing. In the end, art isn’t about answers, it's about questions.