Tidlig om Morgenen kom en Bondemand 1928

Fritz Syberg made this landscape, 'Tidlig om Morgenen kom en Bondemand', using pencil and watercolour. It’s all about marks, really – loose, scratchy lines that define the scene, capturing a sense of a chilly morning. The textures here are built up with these marks, hatching, and cross-hatching to create depth. The washes of color are thin, almost transparent, allowing the paper to show through and adding to that feeling of lightness. Look at how Syberg uses these lines to suggest the bare branches of the trees, creating a kind of scribble that's both chaotic and precise. Then there’s the pool in the lower right, rendered with a few quick strokes. It’s the kind of detail that brings the whole scene to life. There’s something about this work that reminds me of Van Gogh’s drawings – that same energy and immediacy. Ultimately, it’s the way Syberg embraces the messiness of artmaking, letting the process guide the image, that really resonates with me.