Peer Gynt 01 1890

Curator: Welcome. We're here today to discuss Theodor Kittelsen's drawing "Peer Gynt 01" from 1890, executed in ink. Editor: An unsettling stillness permeates this piece. The stark monochrome amplifies the almost brutal geometry of the landform—its shapes aggressively thrust upward into nothingness. It makes me profoundly uneasy. Curator: Kittelsen’s stark forms were a conscious choice; it seems deliberate here. He reduces the landscape to its essential elements, lines and shapes. Note the oval frame, cutting off at certain edges as though it is about to sink—as though what you feel is mirrored by the very precariousness of this floating mass of land. Editor: Do you see it also as a sort of visual echo chamber for folklore? That pointed mountain evokes, for me, a timeless, primeval narrative, perhaps drawing from Norwegian myths, of trolls and hidden realms, of that strange Nordic sense of isolation and existential struggle in a harsh world. Curator: Indeed. Consider the broader context of Kittelsen’s art, which frequently delved into Norwegian folklore and fairytales. I see the peak of the mountain, like a sort of gothic spire; perhaps that represents the troll king's kingdom. These shapes may stand for very concrete visual structures, but I see them also speaking to deeper anxieties that affect the whole compositional order of this stark and brooding scene. Editor: Absolutely, it encapsulates the emotional and psychological resonance of his nation’s oral traditions, offering a space for viewers to bring their own interpretations, creating a rather unsettling dialogue with their own unconscious biases and primordial fears. The almost non-existent differentiation of land, sea, and air is like the blurring of reality and dream. Curator: What resonates with me is Kittelsen's formal mastery here, transforming ink and paper into a psychological topography. This small drawing encapsulates how we create mental shapes, landscapes if you will, that can shape and shift over the duration of time, thought and meaning. Editor: A disquieting marvel. Curator: An uncanny treasure, formally considered.