Studier af ornamenter og arkitektoniske detaljer. Notat 1919

This page of sketches was made by Niels Larsen Stevns, in pencil, at an unknown date. It’s a study, a working out, a notation of architectural details. I see drawing as a kind of thinking, a way of finding form. Look at the marks – so tentative and searching. It’s all about line here. Thin, delicate lines describe dense floral rosettes and what looks like a frieze. It’s as if he’s trying to capture the essence of these ornate structures with the simplest means possible. There's something so lovely about the contrast between the grand scale of architecture and the intimacy of this little sketchbook. Notice the rosette in the center. It’s not perfect, not symmetrical. The lines wobble a bit, and you can see where Stevns has gone over them again and again, trying to get it just right. That’s the beauty of it, the imperfection, the process laid bare. It reminds me a bit of Matisse’s drawings, where he’s constantly adjusting and refining the line until it sings. Art isn’t about perfect answers, it’s about the questions we ask along the way.