Udkast til maleriet af Ossian 1780 - 1782

Curator: Allow me to introduce Nicolai Abildgaard's "Udkast til maleriet af Ossian," a drawing created between 1780 and 1782, held here at the SMK. Editor: My immediate impression is of raw energy, an unbridled sketch full of gestural fury and rapid strokes. The figure is imposing, yet feels almost incomplete, like a phantom emerging from the paper itself. Curator: It's a study, of course, a preparatory drawing. You can see Abildgaard grappling with the figure's form and positioning. The Romantic style is quite visible through its loose depiction. Consider the materials – pen and watercolor on paper – immediate and accessible, enabling swift translation of imagination into visual form. This wasn't about preciousness but process. Editor: The raised hand, the flowing beard, the dramatic drapery—it’s loaded with classical symbolism. Ossian, the legendary blind bard, points upward, channeling divine inspiration or perhaps summoning spirits. The incompleteness enhances this idea; we only get a glimpse of this mythic world. The paper's browning adds to its aged and historical gravitas. Curator: It invites reflection on the cultural phenomenon that was the Ossian cycle at that time. Abildgaard was deeply engaged with forging a Danish national identity, using imagery linked to the North's perceived past as it was being reimagined in the 18th century. One must ask, what other versions existed? And whose hands produced the work and when? Editor: I'm curious about the cultural memory that Abildgaard was attempting to conjure and connect with. How does the historical Ossian, a fabrication in itself, function within the cultural milieu of Denmark in the 1780s? This seemingly hasty sketch functions to convey a cultural weight and authority from another place. Curator: Precisely. And thinking about the use of paper—a relatively inexpensive material, readily available—it allowed Abildgaard to experiment freely. This sketch is part of a larger project, reflective of the artist’s material investigation in shaping a cultural symbol. Editor: Examining this drawing offers a captivating look into how artistic process conveys potent symbolism, shaping collective memories, both historically and today. Curator: Absolutely, seeing how these images circulated in reproductions and how they took on different material forms in different periods says a lot about Romanticism as a social movement.