Kvinden og dragen 1933 - 1934

Niels Larsen Stevns made this small drawing, Kvinden og dragen, with pen on paper. I imagine him sketching quickly, almost automatically, the forms emerging and solidifying through repeated passes of the pen. There’s a woman standing on a crescent moon surrounded by stars, some kind of halo situation, and below her is a multi-headed dragon! Maybe Stevns was riffing on old religious iconography—you know, the kind of stuff you see in medieval manuscripts, all those battles between good and evil. I like the energy of the marks, the way the lines build up to create form and depth. It's a reminder that artists are always in conversation with one another, borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas across time. This little sketch feels like Stevns was playing with some big themes in a humble, intimate way, which is really nice, right? Painting is an ongoing dialogue, where ambiguity and uncertainty let different interpretations emerge, leaving space for all kinds of meaning.