Skitser af traner og ko 1900 - 1905

This is Niels Larsen Stevns' sketchbook page, filled with crane and cow studies, its date unknown. It's raw, immediate - you feel the artist's hand moving, thinking through the pencil. The paper is warm, almost like skin, and the lines are tentative, searching. Look at the crane on the upper right, its neck a single, confident stroke, then compare that to the feathered mound of the crane on the left. There's a real contrast between sureness and exploration. I always find these kinds of sketches so generous. They show the artist working through ideas, not afraid to leave the mess on the page. It makes me think of Rodin, and his endless drawings of figures, each one building on the last, each one a step in the process. This page invites us into that process, into the messy, beautiful act of seeing and trying to capture the world. It reminds us that art is a journey, not a destination.