Studier af fugle 1864 - 1941

Curator: Looking at this page from Niels Larsen Stevns’ sketchbook, titled “Studies of Birds,” created sometime between 1864 and 1941. It's a simple pencil drawing on paper, currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: Hmm, it feels like catching a glimpse into the artist's private observations—fleeting and immediate. I imagine Stevns capturing these little avian characters flitting about his garden or the nearby countryside. What’s particularly captivating to me is the pure simplicity, almost a haiku in visual form. Curator: Exactly! Stevns, deeply rooted in the naturalist tradition, really used art to explore his environment, documenting the everyday. This wasn't about grand narratives but careful observation. Sketchbooks like these provided artists an opportunity to experiment and record. The artist, as naturalist, becomes akin to a scientist. Editor: But there’s also something inherently emotional here, isn’t there? Those sketchy lines...it’s not cold scientific study, to me at least. They breathe a sense of movement and fragility. There’s a tender quality in the way the artist looked. Each sketch suggests a feeling—almost childlike wonder at nature’s minutiae. Curator: I see your point. And this focus, I think, helped democratize art during that period. The artist drew our attention towards beauty, not of biblical scenes, but accessible in common places and the artist's backyard. Editor: The unpretentious style draws me closer. With each observation of those bird-sketches I learn more about those birds in their innocent, natural environment and, strangely enough, a tiny bit about the person who drew them so lovingly too. Curator: I agree. These sketches gives us access to Stevns as observer, participant, and nature-lover! Editor: What a lovely, quiet moment this page offers. Curator: Indeed. A window into a quieter time and seeing an artist thinking in the moment.