Skitser af hunde 1905 - 1907

Curator: What an absolutely delightful sketchbook page! This is “Skitser af hunde,” or “Sketches of Dogs,” by Niels Larsen Stevns, made between 1905 and 1907. The work, done in pencil on paper, resides here at the SMK. Editor: There's an incredible energy here. It's more than just a drawing; it feels like a captured moment of pure canine joy or maybe playful struggle. Look at the way the legs are splayed out, almost comical! Curator: Stevns captures the raw physicality and exuberance of animal life. Consider how dogs at that time were working animals. This glimpse reveals not only their laboring roles but the emotional lives that society often tried to strip from them. Stevns acknowledges their individual presence and being. Editor: Agreed. And speaking of materiality, the roughness of the pencil strokes lends itself perfectly to this subject. You can almost feel the fur, the quick movements. The sketches expose a certain immediacy that a more polished rendering might lack. You know, in terms of art production at the time, this feels much more intimate and raw, more real. Curator: Exactly! The 'real' is interesting as artifice. The dog as subject became a method, here. Look at the context of artistic representations and consider who the work may have been for; could Stevns’ work make visible an implicit hierarchy of how humans see labor? Editor: Hmm. You're right to bring it back to power and work... Curator: These aren't static portraits, they hint at dynamism. The dog almost has human personality here! These drawings feel almost like a rebellious gesture, highlighting lives easily marginalized or ignored. Editor: Absolutely. Stevns really distills something about movement and liveliness with minimal means. You’ve expanded my thinking on how to appreciate these kinds of sketches. Curator: And you've helped me appreciate the making, and how the artist may elevate the seemingly simple material to show the animal and being through line.