Lake Bagsværd 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made this oil painting of Lake Bagsværd. It’s full of quick, gestural marks in a range of muted, almost pastel colors. I love how the whole scene is built up from these small, expressive strokes; it’s all about the process. The texture is key here, you can almost feel the way the paint was loaded onto the brush and then dragged across the canvas. The paint isn’t too thick or thin, but it has a certain body to it, a kind of fleshy density. Check out the lower right, how the dashes of yellow and green overlap to create the sense of a grassy verge. Each little stroke feels so deliberate, so full of energy. Stevns reminds me of someone like Bonnard, both artists were interested in capturing the fleeting impressions of light and color in everyday scenes. Like many great paintings, this one leaves plenty of room for interpretation, embracing ambiguity as a strength.