Udkast til "Lars Dyrskjøt rider fra Aagaarde til Nørresundby", notat & kvadrering 1932 - 1935

This is a drawing by Niels Larsen Stevns, made on gridded paper with black ink. You can see it today at the SMK in Copenhagen. I imagine Stevns sketching this preliminary idea quickly. He has used a rudimentary grid to measure out the composition. There are notations to the side. His gestural marks are full of energy and feel like they were made with great speed. The figures on horseback are roughly defined, like a memory or dream. What was Stevns thinking when he was making this? Perhaps he was struggling with the placement of the figures, how to capture the feeling of movement and the dynamism of the scene. I find the contrast between the freedom of the drawing and the rigidity of the grid compelling. The artist is in conversation with other artists across time. Each mark made is evidence of this exchange. It is open, uncertain and full of possibilities.