Tre studier af siddende, skægget mand. Saul 1920

Joakim Skovgaard made these studies of a seated, bearded man, Saul, using pen and ink. I imagine him, the artist, rapidly sketching these studies, line after line, trying to capture the figure from different angles. There is the seated man with his hand to his face as though in contemplation; or maybe he's just tired! Then, above, is the same man bent over in what looks like prayer. I love how the artist uses simple strokes to define the volumes of the body, to create these different poses. There's a raw quality to the drawing, an immediacy that invites us into the artist's process. The ink creates a sense of light and shadow, giving the figures a sense of depth. I can see echoes of Rembrandt in this work, but there’s something else here too, something uniquely Skovgaard. It reminds me that we are all in this great big conversation together. Artists looking at artists, across time, all trying to figure out this thing called life, with a pen, a brush, a chisel, or whatever we can get our hands on.