Skitse af en frø, samt plantestudie 1906 - 1910

This is a sketch of a frog and a plant study by Niels Larsen Stevns, made without a specified date, using an unspecified medium. It looks like it’s a page from a sketchbook. I love how the artist captures the frog with just a few lines, it’s so immediate. You get a sense of the animal’s bulk and texture, like it’s a real, damp thing you could reach out and touch. The lines feel so alive and kind of scrabbly and free. They remind me of Twombly’s drawings, but with a naturalist’s eye. The marks feel exploratory, like he's figuring out the form as he goes. I find that vulnerability so compelling. The quick plant study below it feels like an extension of the same energy, a kind of intuitive response to the natural world. It's all about process, about seeing and feeling, not just about representation. This emphasis on line and form relates to the drawings of Matisse, which often share a similar interest in the economy of line and the expression of form. It's like a visual conversation across time.