Skitser af arme og halvfigurer 1905 - 1907

Niels Larsen Stevns made these sketches of arms and half-figures sometime between 1864 and 1941, using graphite on paper. Just look at the quick, tentative lines, searching for the right form, the weight of the arm, the turn of the body. You can almost feel Stevns’ hand moving across the page, trying to capture the essence of the human form, kind of like when I’m trying to nail a gesture in one of my paintings, you know? I imagine him sitting in a studio, maybe with a model, or perhaps just working from memory, trying to get it down, this fleeting image. There is a sense of immediacy here; it’s like he's having a conversation with the paper. These rapid lines aren’t precious. They are about feeling and observation. It makes you think about all the artists throughout history who have sketched and drawn, each one trying to understand the world through line and form. Each one of us adds to the collective conversation, building on what came before.