Med solen i øjnene 1886 - 1920

Theodor Philipsen made this little drawing, “Med solen i øjnene,” which translates as, “With the sun in my eyes,” with ink on paper. He’s using a kind of shorthand, which feels so fast and off-the-cuff. It gives the impression that he's figuring things out on the fly. The textures of the marks are raw; it’s all surface with no depth, except the depth of field. There’s a horizon line, and almost a sense of vanishing point, which create a perspectival recession. But in general the cross hatching flattens the image, like a drawing on a napkin. Look at how the artist uses repeated strokes, as if to summon the light itself, and build a sense of atmosphere. The cows in the foreground, rendered with a few simple lines, are solid and present. The artist has this incredible knack for capturing the essence of a scene with minimal effort. It reminds me of Manet, someone else who seemed to know exactly when to stop. It’s like they both understood that sometimes, less is more. Art is really about seeing. Philipsen has managed to show us how he sees.