Modelstudie, foroverbøjet model set forfra 1901 - 1905

Curator: Standing before us is a sketch by Oluf Hartmann, titled “Modelstudie, foroverbøjet model set forfra”, created between 1901 and 1905. It resides here at the SMK. Editor: Oh, the slouch! Immediately I feel the weight of gravity and perhaps something more existential pulling that figure downwards. Is it me, or is there palpable melancholy in the strokes? Curator: It’s remarkable how he uses the pencil—a mix of light, almost hesitant lines, and then these sudden, dense patches of shading. It's not just anatomy; he's mapping form through light and shadow. I notice particularly the upper arm's muscularity contrasted with the obscured head. What is hidden versus what is revealed? Editor: It does seem a study of contrasts. Look at the subject’s stance—one arm obscuring the face, as if retreating inward, yet the body, powerfully built, appears on the verge of movement. It suggests inner conflict or maybe restrained potential. Also, the surface he stands upon seems both solid and ambiguous. It really invites contemplation. Curator: Hartmann has captured a moment suspended—it doesn't resolve, but keeps unfolding. What I mean is the form feels fleeting because of how visible the construction remains: look closely at the pencilwork still legible in the legs; it appears that he almost revels in exposing the drawing process itself. Editor: True, you see the hand of the artist everywhere; it’s like the ghost of other gestures beneath what we see on the surface, building dimensionality and depth, not just in a spatial sense, but also perhaps emotional layers? Ultimately, it is these exposed lines and deliberate shadows that suggest a story left untold. Curator: Hartmann's study is more than mere observation, right? He coaxes feeling out of form with minimal, chosen markings. Editor: Right—we’re not simply looking *at* a body, but perceiving vulnerability through it, its very raw depiction becomes profound.