Landskabsskitse og skitse af jaguarer og tigre 1900 - 1905

Niels Larsen Stevns made this drawing, Landskabsskitse og skitse af jaguarer og tigre, which translates as Landscape Sketch and Sketch of Jaguars and Tigers, with a pencil, we think, on paper. There’s an openness to the surface, it shows its history, its making is visible. The rapid, searching lines are all about process. The way the artist has built up the forms with layers of quick strokes gives the drawing a real sense of energy. Look at the jaguar at the top, how the marks around its head almost vibrate with movement. It’s like Stevns is thinking through the drawing, trying to capture the essence of these powerful animals. The bareness of the paper really contrasts with the density of the marks, it reminds me of drawings by someone like Picasso, where the white space is as important as the lines themselves. It is as though we see the figures emerging out of nothing. We are reminded that art is an ongoing conversation across time, and that ambiguity is a strength, not a weakness.