Udkast til "Kristus velsigner de små børn" 1937 - 1938

Curator: Niels Larsen Stevns created this sketch, “Udkast til "Kristus velsigner de små børn",” sometime between 1937 and 1938. It’s a drawing done with pen on toned paper. Editor: It looks like a page ripped right out of somebody's diary, or better yet, a storyboard—hints of a bigger story with simple but evocative pen strokes. You can almost hear the scribbling. Curator: Precisely. What strikes me most is the dynamism achieved through such rudimentary means. The composition, though fragmented, uses line and form to convey movement and emotional resonance. Editor: Absolutely. There's something incredibly immediate and raw about it, especially that main scene. I see it: a figure – presumed to be Christ – bending over children with one raising an arm as if they have an answer in school. Very intimate, vulnerable moment. Curator: Notice the subtle application of cross-hatching, particularly in rendering the garments of the figures. This not only adds depth but also suggests a certain gravitas appropriate to the subject matter. It also reveals the structure of those figures... Almost geometrical. Editor: See that child's outstretched arm and you almost want to grab it! Despite how preliminary the art is, it’s that kinetic gesture, that moment that encapsulates an act of simple blessing and instruction. Do you feel that urgency, a need to bless or connect before time runs out? Curator: Urgency, yes, is definitely an important component here. But more, I perceive it as part of an inherent exploration of theological themes as he experiments with visualizing narratives through basic sketches. It’s more about deconstructing an image of blessing rather than performing it... Editor: I still can't help seeing his own story interwoven... But maybe we're both reading into his strokes here. Ultimately, this tiny storyboard frame feels vast, like it's yearning for something much larger... Curator: Indeed. The work leaves us considering the powerful visual and symbolic language artists utilize even at the genesis of a larger work.