Studier af græske og etruskiske steler 1932 - 1935

Niels Larsen Stevns made this graphite drawing in a sketchbook, capturing his studies of Greek and Etruscan stelae. Look at the brisk lines, see how they try to capture not just the shape, but the feeling of these ancient forms. I imagine Stevns in a museum or library, quickly sketching, trying to absorb the essence of these ancient monuments. He's not just copying, he's translating. There's a beautiful rawness to the drawing, an immediacy that brings us closer to Stevns's experience. And perhaps, closer to the original artists too. Because aren’t we all just copying from each other, riffing on what came before? It's a kind of conversation across time, this act of looking and drawing, each artist responding to the echoes of the past, trying to make something new.