Løse rids 1900 - 1905

This is ‘Loose Sketches’ by Niels Larsen Stevns. We don't know exactly when he made it, but it's on paper and it's a drawing, so we get to see the artist's thought process. The squiggles feel like an investigation into form, or maybe a feeling. See how the lines swoop and dive, sometimes heavy, sometimes barely there? It's like watching someone think aloud. The paper has a grid, but the marks ignore it. It reminds me that art isn't about perfect representation, but about capturing something fleeting and real. Look at the bottom left, where the lines bunch together like a knot. It almost looks like a flower, or a face, but not quite. That tension between seeing and not-quite-seeing is what makes it so alive. Stevns reminds me of Cy Twombly in his dedication to the expressive possibilities of mark making. In both, the unfinished quality invites us to participate in the act of creation.