Landskab med egetræer. Føns 1908

Fritz Syberg made this landscape with oak trees in Føns using pen and ink. Can you imagine sitting in that field, squinting at the sun, the scratching of the pen a mirror of the scratchy winter trees? Syberg has laid down these rhythmic marks to make the field look ploughed. They’re almost like musical notations, directing our eyes to the mid-ground and beyond. I imagine Syberg capturing the bare essence of things, the bones of the landscape in winter. I wonder if he was thinking about Van Gogh, who also used the reed pen to capture landscapes with dark marks and emotive lines? There’s a real energy in those lines that makes me think about how artists are in an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas. Syberg’s drawing embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.