Kompositionsudkast til Blichers novelle "Bettefanden", p. 129 - Krushoved opdager Bettefandens besked. Notat 1932 - 1935

Curator: My first impression is of a frantic energy. Lines dart every which way. It feels unfinished, raw. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is Niels Larsen Stevns' "Kompositionsudkast til Blichers novelle "Bettefanden\", p. 129 - Krushoved opdager Bettefandens besked. Notat", created sometime between 1932 and 1935. The materials include pencil, pastel, and coloured pencil on paper. It's currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Curator: Stevns... illustrating a Blicher story? The lightness of the sketch style almost clashes with what I know of Blicher's darker, more grounded narratives. There’s a dissonance that intrigues me. The looseness of the line work… it's practically shivering. Editor: The sketch is exactly what the title suggests—a compositional study. Observe how Stevns employs line to map out space, narrative moments and figure placement. There is also what appears to be a block with the text "12 BF," perhaps indicating page twelve of Blicher's "Bettefanden," marking a very precise reference. Curator: Precise yet frantic—a strange duality. It's almost as if he's chasing the story, trying to capture a fleeting emotion before it disappears. It definitely mirrors a kind of inner disquiet. And look, some almost indecipherable handwritten text beneath. Are those notes for staging a scene, maybe? Editor: Perhaps. Or considerations around character. The medium is not only line, though it certainly drives the dynamism, but script as well. Think about how a combination of pastel and pencil yields incredibly textural possibilities to an artist. Curator: Agreed, those deeper shades convey the emotional texture too! This really resonates as more than just an under-drawing, and that makes all the difference. Editor: Precisely. A dynamic glimpse into an artist’s process while engaging a very specific text from Danish history. Curator: And a great jumping-off point to revisit that text too!