Figur- og plantestudier 1906 - 1910

This is one page from a sketchbook, made with pencil by Niels Larsen Stevns. It's cool to get such an intimate look into an artist's process, you know? I mean, look at the tentative quality of these lines, so fragile and open. It's not about perfection; it's about thinking, feeling, working things out on the page, and letting the drawing lead you somewhere. See the way the pencil sort of hovers and scratches, building up these airy figures? There's something so immediate and vulnerable about the surface. It gives the impression that Stevns was just trying to capture a fleeting image or idea. The page has a slightly aged, worn texture that really contrasts with the fresh, almost childlike quality of the drawing itself. This looseness reminds me a bit of Twombly. It’s like art history is one long conversation.