Studier af blomster med angivelser af lysforhold 1919

Niels Larsen Stevns made these flower studies with ink on paper. The marks are so present here, aren’t they? The lines feel like they're constantly searching, questioning, as though Stevns is trying to capture not just the flower, but the very act of seeing it, the process of understanding its form and how light falls on it. Look closely at the lower flower. The way he's layered the ink, it’s almost as though he's building the flower out of pure shadow. The lines are dense, almost frantic, yet they create a delicate, almost fragile form. It reminds me a bit of some of Philip Guston’s later work, that same sense of raw honesty and the willingness to let the process be visible, to let the marks speak for themselves. It’s like Stevns is saying, "Here, this is how I see, this is how I try to understand." It's a beautiful reminder that art isn't about perfection, but about the journey of seeing and understanding.