Ned til Vandet vokste store Skræppeblade 1928

Fritz Syberg made this drawing, with the title *Ned til Vandet vokste store Skræppeblade*, and it’s currently held at the SMK, that’s the Statens Museum for Kunst. Just looking at it, I can feel the artist mulling over ideas, trying out different arrangements of figures, maybe testing how they relate to one another on the page. It’s like the quiet hum of Syberg's thoughts are captured here. I imagine him stepping back, squinting, maybe tilting his head a little to the side. What if he moved this figure over here? What if he made that line darker? The surface of the paper becomes a place where the artist could explore and ask questions. Each mark invites us to consider not just what is depicted, but how it came to be. Syberg is definitely in conversation with other artists through time, and that is how artists build on one another's ideas to create something new and compelling. Like any good conversation, there is a sense of openness and possibility here, inviting us to participate in the exchange of ideas.