Blomsterstudier 1919

This is a sketch of flowers by Niels Larsen Stevns, probably made in a small notebook. Look at the nervous energy in those marks! I’m imagining Stevns outside, balancing the notebook in his hands, trying to capture the essence of the plants. I like how the ink is both descriptive and totally abstract. Look how those rapid, repetitive lines evoke both the volume of the leaves and a feeling of movement. There’s a real sense of intimacy here, as if we’re seeing something private and immediate. You could say that artists are always talking to each other, across time, and Stevns probably knew his Van Gogh, another artist who could make a plant throb with life. Sketching like this is a kind of conversation, isn't it? An artist thinks, and the pen dances. It’s all about embracing the unexpected and finding something new in something old.