Plante- og koglestudie 1906 - 1910

This is Plante- og koglestudie, a pencil drawing of plants and a pine cone, made by Niels Larsen Stevns, probably in a sketchbook. Look at the texture of the marks and how they build up to suggest form. See how the circular scribbles on the pine cone’s scales give it a sense of volume, while the straight lines on the stems add a structural element to the botanical forms. It is about the process of looking, a process of finding form with the pencil. I think Stevns is working to try and build the forms from within. The way the pencil lines are layered reminds me a little of Cezanne and his watercolors, where everything is a series of small, hatched marks. Both artists seem more interested in the act of seeing and recording than in creating a perfect representation. To me, it’s the openness and the searching in the marks that make this piece sing. It’s a reminder that art is a conversation, an ongoing exploration, not a definitive statement.