To studier af kravlende drenge (eller flyvende engle) 1856 - 1933

Joakim Skovgaard made this pencil drawing of boys crawling, or perhaps flying, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. The sketch is interesting for the way it shows Skovgaard working through ideas about motion and the human body. Skovgaard was part of a generation of Danish artists who sought to create a distinct national art, and this drawing reflects a turn to the Italian Renaissance for inspiration in depicting the human form. But the somewhat awkward, unfinished quality of the drawing also marks it as modern. It suggests a tension between the desire to emulate classical ideals and the realities of modern life. We can understand Skovgaard’s artistic practice better through the study of other drawings from the period, and through an understanding of the institutional forces and artistic debates that were shaping Danish art at the time. Only then can we fully understand the cultural work performed by such an image.