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

This drawing, "Udkast til 'Kristus velsigner de små børn'" by Niels Larsen Stevns, feels like it was made with a sense of urgency, sketched with ink on paper. It’s all about capturing a moment, not perfecting it. I wonder what Stevns was thinking as he made this. Maybe he was trying to get the composition down, working out how to arrange the figures, how the light would fall. I love the way he uses these quick, confident lines. The marks are raw, but they convey so much. Look at the little child at the bottom, so small, so vulnerable. Then there's the figure bending over, protecting. You can feel the tender connection. For me, it speaks to the idea that artists are constantly in conversation, borrowing, riffing, and responding to each other across time. It reminds me that painting is a way of thinking, feeling, and being in the world. It’s about embracing the messy, uncertain, and open-ended nature of experience.