Blank 1933 - 1934

Curator: The artwork before us is called "Blank," a pencil drawing on paper completed by Niels Larsen Stevns sometime between 1933 and 1934. It resides here at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: It's strikingly… bare. The ruled lines of the notebook paper dominate the composition. It feels almost sterile, expectant, but undeniably still and quiet. Curator: And how might you interpret that emptiness? We know Stevns lived through both World Wars, and considering that this piece was created during the interwar period, it might speak to the uncertainty and disillusionment felt by many artists. Perhaps this is a deliberate void, reflecting a world stripped bare of meaning after such conflict? Editor: Absolutely, there’s the trauma of war to consider, but also the political landscape shifting dramatically during that period. A blank slate, in a way, offered to the viewer, to fill in the space with possibilities of what is to come, as a form of empowerment for those witnessing tremendous shifts in governance. Or perhaps a fear that no meaningful filling would occur, that political machinations had exhausted even imagination itself. Curator: Or even a critique of the artistic establishment itself. Perhaps Stevns, in creating literally nothing on the page, challenges the viewer’s expectations of what constitutes “art,” making commentary on the role of artists or academics that fail to fill their roles responsibly in these politically turmoiled eras. The “blank” space almost beckons for us to contribute something meaningful where authorities have failed. Editor: That resonates deeply, especially in the face of burgeoning authoritarianism at the time. Considering that the drawing’s materials are pencil and paper, there is a certain vulnerability in how temporal this moment is—paper yellows, pencil lead fades with time. This ephemeral composition perhaps reflects a fleeting hope, an unwritten will of sorts, against rising societal and political uncertainty? Curator: Ultimately, I find this deceptively simple drawing speaks volumes about the historical moment in which it was created and the artist’s engagement—or disengagement—with those socio-political realities. The absence becomes a powerful presence, demanding we consider what forces and histories have been consciously or unconsciously erased. Editor: Agreed. By prompting a profound self-reflection from its viewers, Niels Larsen Stevns' work has cleverly filled that "Blank" space with a question.