Figurstudie 1930 - 1936

This sketch of a figure was made with pencil on paper by Niels Larsen Stevns. Looking at these faint, tentative lines, you can almost feel Stevns searching for the form, circling around it, trying to capture the essence of the figure. It’s like he’s feeling his way through the darkness, guided by intuition and a deep understanding of anatomy. I wonder what he was thinking about as he made this sketch. Was he trying to capture a fleeting moment, or was he more interested in the underlying structure of the body? Maybe he was just doodling, letting his hand wander across the page without any particular goal in mind. It reminds me of my own process, where I often start with a vague idea and let the painting take me where it wants to go. We are all always referencing and playing with the ideas of others. Painting is an ongoing exchange of ideas across time, and place.