Udkast til "Kristus velsigner de små børn" 1937 - 1938

This small sketch, 'Udkast til "Kristus velsigner de små børn"', was made by Niels Larsen Stevns at an unknown date. The figures are drawn in blue ink, like a visual annotation on the page. I imagine Stevns had a vision in his mind. He quickly put it down on paper in these fluid, looping lines. There are the heads of the children in a semi-circle. They are being blessed by Christ who is to the upper right. It’s an intimate huddle, the circle a protective embrace. The sketch is a fleeting glimpse of a larger composition. It has a pared-down quality. I can almost see Stevns puzzling over the arrangement, trying to capture the essence of the scene with the fewest possible marks. This feels like a private moment. This is a peek into the artist’s thought process, a reminder that every finished painting begins with these tentative, exploratory gestures. Every artist is in conversation with other artists through time, and the practice of art making.