Gammelt egetræ 1873 - 1948

Svend Hammershøi made this drawing, Gammelt egetræ, with pencil on paper. The drawing is subtle, almost ghostly, yet precise. Hammershøi lets the bare minimum of marks describe the scene before us, and in this way, reveals the artmaking process itself. The texture of the paper is visible beneath the graphite, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere, a kind of silvery light, as if the tree exists in a dream. See how the lines of the branches thin and blur at their edges. It's as though he is inviting the tree to breathe, to grow, to become present in the here and now. Hammershøi's drawing reminds me of Agnes Martin's quiet, meditative works, or perhaps even some of the landscape drawings of Mondrian, particularly in the reductive quality of the mark making. Hammershøi's drawing is not just about what we see, but about how we see. It embraces ambiguity, suggesting that art is more about questioning than answering.