Studier af forskellige fuglearter 1864 - 1941

Curator: Well, that’s whimsical, isn't it? Sort of unfinished daydreams on a page. Editor: Indeed. What we are looking at is entitled “Studier af forskellige fuglearter” or "Studies of different bird species". It is attributed to Niels Larsen Stevns. Its production dates anywhere between 1864 and 1941, created using pencil and colored pencil on paper and is located right here at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Curator: Ah yes, I can see it. Little hints of feathers, quick sketches of beaks maybe? There is something so beautifully hesitant about them, as if the birds might fly right off the page if he pressed too hard. Editor: Stevns' bird studies, from what we know of his biography, reflect a larger Danish tradition of nature studies flourishing at the time. The socio-political context emphasized an almost scientific approach to understanding nature. But unlike other naturalists, there is a sketch-like intimacy to his approach that resists purely clinical study. Curator: Intimacy! Yes! It's almost like he is having a conversation with the birds rather than just documenting them. Do you think he was trying to capture their essence more than their precise anatomy? Maybe a secret language? Editor: Maybe he wanted to circumvent expectations. Stevns spent his career balancing public commissions with this private world of sketches and drawings that had little visibility. It’s work like this where we get a true sense of the artist without societal pressures bearing down on him. Curator: It is fascinating, you know? How the most fleeting, unassuming marks can carry such a weight of intention. What do you make of his choice of using both pencil and colored pencil, some forms only existing as gentle contour lines. Is it a purposeful tension or a restless indecision? Editor: My guess is, it highlights his engagement with a society that prizes objective realism, Stevns presents something softer. Here are subjects drawn from life, yet their final forms emphasize gesture over exact representation. These choices tell of art world democratization, where “looser” renderings are also valid forms. Curator: A rebellion in bird form! I love it. It’s refreshing to see even in something that looks quick and disposable at first glance. Editor: Exactly. These studies quietly hint at the complexities bubbling beneath the surface of even the most "objective" depiction of nature. Curator: It definitely makes you wonder about all the untold stories and unsung visions hiding in sketchbooks around the world.