Hundehoved, Terry 1842

Curator: Johan Thomas Lundbye's 1842 ink drawing, "Hundehoved, Terry", resides here at the SMK, Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: Oh, my god, that hound looks absolutely exhausted. Like he's been chasing rabbits for a week straight and someone finally said, "Okay, Terry, sit. Stay." And the crosshatching really exaggerates that weighty melancholy. Curator: Note the emphasis on line and form. Lundbye has utilized hatching and cross-hatching extensively to describe the contours of Terry’s head and to give the fur a tangible sense of volume. See the contrast between the more defined lines of the eye versus the softer treatment of the snout? Editor: It is amazing, the eye does seem rather heavy and tired, it reminds me of a weary old man that seems to have lived many different lifetimes. Do you think this drawing shows more about how the artist feels than the poor hound? Curator: Well, the objective reality of Terry's actual weariness is secondary to the rendering of three-dimensional form and the exploration of contrasting textures through line work. Observe the economy of strokes used to suggest the rough texture of the fur compared to the smoother areas of the face. The contrasting line weights suggest depth and light. Editor: Right, right… but look at that droopy eye again. There’s a soulful sadness there that’s just beyond technique, don’t you think? It's like Lundbye is not just drawing a dog, he is revealing the burden of being. I might be going too far! Curator: Perhaps. From a purely formal point of view, the efficiency of Lundbye's technique to convey such detail is what is truly astonishing and worthy of recognition. Editor: Perhaps, yes! I cannot but help thinking it also reveals something profound about both subject and artist too though.