Blank 1864 - 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made this blank page sometime between 1864 and 1941. It’s now held at the Statens Museum for Kunst. This work, so-called, challenges our very idea of art itself. What does it mean to display something so apparently devoid of aesthetic content in a museum? What assumptions about value, originality, and skill are being subverted? These are the questions the work puts to us. Consider the time in which Stevns was working. The rise of conceptual art movements questioned traditional notions of authorship and the art object. Perhaps this blank page is a response to the increasing commercialization of art. Or perhaps it reflects the growing sense of alienation and meaninglessness in modern society. To truly understand the social conditions of this artwork, we might delve into the history of the museum itself. We could also examine the writings and manifestos of the avant-garde movements of the early 20th century. We might consider the role of art critics in shaping our understanding of what constitutes art. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.