Udkast til "Kristus helbreder en spedalsk" 1937 - 1938

This is a pencil drawing, Udkast til "Kristus helbreder en spedalsk", by Niels Larsen Stevns. We don’t know exactly when it was made, but it is an intriguing glimpse into the artist's process. You know, when you draw you draw a line, erase, and go over the line again and again. I can see the artist felt the same way! The graphite is laid down with such energy; the lines are so immediate. It's on graph paper, for starters. You can see the grid right underneath. It looks like he's really figuring out where to put things and what to emphasize. The hand that reaches down is so gentle, full of concern, and yet the marks are scratchy. To me, this contrast gives it a quality of human struggle. Think of Giotto, with the gentle faces, set off by the same awkwardness. Here, Stevns sketches the healing of the leper, but the image itself feels like a record of healing. Like art-making as a kind of faith.