Rejsedagbog 1845

This is a page from Johan Thomas Lundbye’s travel journal, undated, housed at the SMK. The overall impression is one of intimacy, facilitated by the journal's modest dimensions, which suggest it was intended for personal reflection rather than public display. The journal entry presents a dense field of handwritten text, its rhythmic script creating a visual texture of lines and curves. Lundbye employs a practical approach to recording his observations and expenses with little concern for aesthetic refinement. Yet, the composition, with its uneven margins and spontaneous annotations, offers a unique insight into the artist's immediate thoughts and impressions. This is art not as a polished statement but as a raw, unfiltered process. Lundbye's journal destabilizes the conventional notion of art as a finished, framed object. Instead, it invites us to consider art as a dynamic, evolving practice embedded in everyday life, blurring the lines between the aesthetic and the quotidian.