Adam og Eva fristes af slangen 1903

Joakim Skovgaard made this etching, Adam and Eve Tempted by the Serpent, presumably sometime around 1903. Look at all the tiny lines, the density of marks, all those little hatches, creating areas of dark and light. It’s like he’s building up the image, mark by mark, an accumulation of tiny decisions. I like to think about the physicality of this piece. Look at the way the light falls across Adam and Eve's bodies. You can almost feel the scratch of the etching tool on the plate. There’s an intimacy to the scale; it invites you to get up close and personal. I like that the composition is a bit wonky. Skovgaard's process reminds me a bit of Samuel Palmer's visionary landscapes; both artists share a meticulousness and an appreciation for the handmade. But where Palmer leans into Romanticism, Skovgaard brings a kind of quiet contemplation. Art isn’t about definitive answers, but about opening up spaces for questioning.