Blad med fire indrammede udkast til første Leonora Christine billeder (1869-70). I midten et figurrids 1869 - 1870

These sketches were made with graphite on paper by Kristian Zahrtmann between 1869 and 1870. These aren't finished artworks; they are studies, preparatory drawings for a series of paintings of Leonora Christine, a Danish noblewoman. The immediacy of the graphite medium is crucial here. Graphite, essentially pencil lead, allows for rapid sketching, corrections, and exploration of different compositions. See how the artist layers the lines to build up tone and volume, creating a sense of depth and shadow within each framed sketch. The texture of the paper is important too; its slight roughness catches the graphite, adding to the drawings' informal, exploratory feel. These drawings demonstrate Zahrtmann's process of artistic investigation and emphasize the labor of preproduction which is often overlooked when viewing a final piece of art. It prompts us to think about the many hours of work involved in the production of painting and how a painting is not necessarily the first and final stage of an artistic process.