Adam keder sig 1915 - 1916

Curator: Here we have a drawing by Joakim Skovgaard, dating from 1915-1916. It is entitled "Adam keder sig"—"Adam Bored." It’s currently part of the collection at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Well, “bored” certainly captures it. The first impression is one of listlessness. It is lightly rendered in pencil, and the overall effect is washed out, tired. The subject is not conventionally heroic, not the muscular archetype we might expect, but rather slouched and indistinct. Curator: The setting is quite important here. Consider that this drawing, depicting a figure referencing the foundational myth of humanity, was created during the period of World War I. Does this give the composition new significance in a historical sense? Editor: Absolutely. Suddenly, it reads less like ennui and more like disillusionment. It's Adam, post-Eden, post-enlightenment perhaps. The weight of history, of conflict, is literally sketched onto his posture. It isn’t just a personal boredom, but a boredom of the ages, an existential weariness. Curator: Note the almost negligent drawing of the creatures that surround him—the lack of defined outlines gives the impression of something still in the process of coming into existence. Perhaps reflecting the cultural memory of creation stories, the artist implies an ongoing tension between the ideal of paradise and a disenchanted reality. Editor: That ambiguity definitely enhances the psychological depth. We aren't presented with a definitive scene, but a suggestive state of mind. And that sense of in-between, that liminal space Skovgaard has sketched so vaguely, could signify the breakdown of older worldviews amid unprecedented social and global anxieties. The snake's absence is practically deafening, but its symbolic weight haunts the whole work. Curator: So, a Genesis devoid of its dramatic tension? Editor: Precisely. Leaving us, perhaps, to reconsider how myth interacts with the lived moment—and how political turmoil manifests itself in these quiet symbolic disruptions. I like the touch of leaving the entire image lightly finished to provide space for contemplation, it makes us pause and contemplate. Curator: A sentiment I completely share—thank you for sharing those impressions. Editor: The pleasure was all mine, to revisit such a significant image in its socio-historical and cultural contexts.