"Poesi" 1842 - 1845

This is a page from a notebook, created by Johan Thomas Lundbye, sometime in the 1800s. It consists simply of ink on paper, humble materials. Yet, the list of poems and historical writings has a social significance. It seems the artist was involved in cultural preservation, part of a Romantic movement that sought to define Danish identity through its history and literature. Lundbye, of course, was an artist, trained in the academy. But these notes show him working in a more documentary, even scholarly mode. It's easy to overlook such informal efforts. Yet, artistic and intellectual labour are always intertwined. The act of writing, of transcription, indexes the amount of work involved in the production process. By drawing attention to this, we recognize the true complexity of Lundbye’s practice, challenging the idea of fine art as somehow separate from the everyday grind.