Plantestudie (Echeveria) 1906 - 1910

Curator: What strikes me immediately is the line work. So simple, yet it perfectly captures the essence of this Echeveria. There’s an honesty to it. Editor: Honesty born from material constraint perhaps? Before us is "Plantestudie (Echeveria)," or "Plant Study (Echeveria)," created between 1906 and 1910 by Niels Larsen Stevns, held here at the SMK. He employed ink and colored pencil on paper. You can see the texture of the sketchbook page coming through. Curator: Precisely. Notice how Stevns doesn't attempt to disguise the support? The ink bleeds ever so slightly into the paper fibers, a visual testament to the raw materials themselves. It is quite refreshing. And the use of line creates the sense of dimension. Editor: He has built a study on a limited access to a wealth of colours. The social aspect cannot be removed from looking at that art either, because even materials hold memory. How the support itself has interacted with ink and light to become an invaluable art object for us now. Look at the spine of the book as an added layer of mark making to contextualise the object we are experiencing. Curator: Yes, you are right, and note how the stark black ink, rather than strictly adhering to botanical accuracy, interprets the *idea* of the Echeveria? It speaks to a deeper, almost symbolic reading. It really reduces a succulent form down to an essential idea of *plantness*. Editor: I read the composition of those inked gestures in ways you could interpret labor too; there’s a beauty to the material that is inextricably linked to the artist’s hand. Every stroke implies motion and consideration as they are imprinted, which elevates this beyond being just simply representation. The paper substrate adds more than surface: it provides a lens into considering making as method. Curator: Interesting... For me, this artwork’s charm stems from the sheer confidence in its presentation and in its structural form – each form reduced to the point of recognizable, idealized clarity. Editor: It's interesting to me how Niels Larsen Stevns coaxed the very spirit of growth onto a restrictive and finite surface. Thank you for unveiling new perspectives. Curator: Thank you. It's a privilege to ponder such potent, elegantly expressed organic forms.