Udenfor store Hareskov 1912

Axel Holm made this landscape, 'Udenfor store Hareskov' with pencil, so the image feels immediate, like a sketch, a thought caught on paper. Look how Holm builds up tone using short, scribbled marks. The thatched roof of the house is a marvel. Holm's repeated strokes make the thatching almost vibrate. It's so dense and dark it’s almost dissolving into the trees behind. And did you notice that the foreground is much sharper? The reeds are defined with crisp strokes, and their reflections ripple in the water. But everything else is kind of vague and blurred, like he’s inviting us to dream into the landscape. This reminds me a little of Odilon Redon's charcoal drawings, those dreamy, suggestive landscapes, where the real subject is the feeling of a place. Just beautiful!