Rejsedagbog 1845

Curator: Welcome. Today we're looking at a page from Johan Thomas Lundbye’s "Rejsedagbog," or Travel Journal, from 1845, currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. It's a miniature artwork done in ink on paper, displaying his handwriting. What's your first impression? Editor: It feels… intimate, almost clandestine. The handwriting is so personal, like eavesdropping on his thoughts. I imagine him huddled in some corner, quill scratching away in low light. It also feels immediate and real like you can breathe in his world just for one small glimpse. Curator: Yes, "intimate" is a perfect descriptor. These journals provide invaluable insights into the artist's inner world and daily life. They offer social context: everything from train fare and an orange. You could compare it to keeping up on what your friend is up to through twitter. Editor: Precisely! And it transcends mere documentation. Each word is evidence of a mood, a choice made on that specific day. Was it the train fare that had him up in arms? I almost don't even care what he says. Look, look, how some words and letters are almost dancing on the page. What are you waiting to tell us? Curator: You are so right. We see the practical details—costs, travel arrangements—mingling with personal reflections. This blending is typical of Romanticism, where personal experience became paramount. What makes it interesting, for me, is looking at his own economic station in that era through this tiny diary of transactions. The art market was definitely starting to get more formalized. Editor: It makes you consider what value this all held to him? He kept it all; a true glimpse of the soul from an older age of creation and observation. It humanizes the idea of these romantic artistic notions, brings him from this lofty mountain peak right down next to us! Curator: Exactly. By reading "Rejsedagbog", one can explore both the artistic soul and the everyday circumstances of the past, bringing us closer to understanding Lundbye's unique viewpoint and the world that surrounded him. Editor: And maybe understand something about ourselves in the process. Art holding a mirror? Yes please.