Skitse af bygning 1906

This “Sketch of a Building” by Niels Larsen Stevns, captures something in its making of art as a process. It’s a simple ink drawing on graph paper, probably from a notebook. What I love is how you can see the hand of the artist, the quick, assured lines that map out a space, a structure. It's fascinating how the ruled lines of the graph paper both contain and release the artist’s gestures. Look at the hatched rectangles; see how the artist has varied the pressure, the angle, giving each shape a unique character, so although the structure is simple, the way they are rendered suggests a more fluid, intuitive way of working. For me, this sketch exists in a space between representation and abstraction, reflecting Stevns' awareness of modernist tendencies in the early 20th century.