The Writer Harald Kidde 1903

This is Jens Lund's bust of The Writer Harald Kidde, carved from stone, and residing at the SMK. Lund coaxes a lot of expression from the stone, but what really grabs me here is the hair, its almost liquid, cascading down the forehead. I’m always drawn to the way an artist handles their materials. Here, the stone isn’t just stone; it’s transformed into something that suggests movement and thought. Look at the way the light catches the curves, the subtle shadows that define the form. It's the way it contrasts with the very still gaze of the eyes, like Kidde is bursting with ideas but trying to maintain a stoic expression. That tension between inner thought and outward appearance, its kind of what its all about, isn't it? There's something of Rodin's sculptures in its feel and texture, but it has this Nordic reserve and starkness that is very much its own. Art's an ongoing dialogue, a conversation across generations.