En gemse 1845 - 1846

Curator: Here we have "En gemse," or "A Chamois" by Johan Thomas Lundbye, created sometime between 1845 and 1846. It's a pencil drawing on paper and it's currently held at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: Well, isn't that charming! It feels like stumbling upon a hidden page in a naturalist's notebook, full of arcane notations. Curator: Indeed, it has that air. The image of the chamois, though lightly sketched, has a certain weight, evoking the Romantic era's fascination with the animal world, and wild, untamed nature. Editor: It's ghostly, though. See-through almost, but there’s a sense of movement trapped in that very light, very sure hand. It's less a depiction and more a fleeting impression, as if Lundbye just glimpsed the animal before it vanished into the rocks. The lines feel tentative yet confident. It makes me think about the liminal space between observation and capture. Curator: I think that resonates deeply with the wider artistic currents of Romanticism. The chamois embodies ideas about freedom and an intrinsic link with the sublime natural landscape, ideas which appealed to artists seeking emotional and spiritual truth in the world around them. It would have represented that to audiences even then. But those lines also act as a mnemonic. Editor: A memory trigger. You're right, it’s as much about memory as observation. All those numbers scattered around—do you think he was actually using it as a calculation pad in the field? Curator: Possibly. It's clear this wasn’t intended as a formal exhibition piece; more of a personal study or a preparatory sketch. Yet within this seemingly casual context, the drawing offers profound insights into the artist's thought processes, his methods and interests. Lundbye wasn't just recording an image; he was engaging with the very essence of this animal, this creature, this *thing.* Editor: I keep coming back to those numerals, though. They’re not disruptive; instead, they feel intertwined with the sketch itself, as though mathematical order exists within natural form. I like the unpretentious rawness of the drawing as well. It captures the immediacy of seeing a living, breathing chamois in its habitat. A bit like keeping the thing alive even to this day. Curator: Absolutely. It allows us to look beyond surface representation and delve into the relationship between humanity and nature. Editor: So, Lundbye offers us a brief look into the soul of an animal—a shared, perhaps mathematical soul. Curator: Precisely. It leaves you pondering nature’s beauty in unassuming forms.