Ansigtsstudier 1900 - 1904

Niels Larsen Stevns made this drawing, Ansigtsstudier, with graphite on paper. Look at these tentative marks, searching for a form, a face. The artist is on a journey, trying to find something, and maybe not quite finding it. It’s not really about perfection, is it? It’s about the act of looking, the energy of the hand moving across the page. I wonder what Stevns was thinking as he made these studies? Maybe he was trying to capture a certain mood, a fleeting expression. The faces are tilted, eyes closed; they could be sleeping, dreaming, or lost in thought. It reminds me of other artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also captured such intimate portraits. There is a conversation across time, where artists learn and borrow from each other. It’s like we’re all in this big art school together, trying to figure things out, one drawing at a time.