Sammenkrøbet mand med vædderhorn og vandsæk 1879 - 1937

Anders Bundgaard made this clay sculpture of a huddled man at an unknown date, but it lives at the SMK in Copenhagen. I imagine the artist working this clay, pushing and prodding, maybe feeling his own body contort as he worked out the slumped posture. Bundgaard's hands must have felt the give and take of the clay as the form shifted and emerged. I imagine him thinking about the weight of the world, the burdens we carry, and the animalistic side of human suffering. The rough texture and earthy tones give it a raw, vulnerable quality. Those deep crevices and folds aren't just surface details; they're like emotional fault lines, each mark telling a story of struggle and resilience. I see echoes of Rodin, maybe Kollwitz, artists who knew how to make you feel the weight of existence. It's like they're all in conversation, across time, about what it means to be human.