Og der gik Storken paa sine lange røde Ben 1928

Editor: This is "Og der gik Storken paa sine lange r\u00f8de Ben," or "And the Stork Walked on its Long Red Legs," a 1928 drawing by Fritz Syberg. It's ink on paper and feels very immediate, like a quick sketch. All those haystacks remind me of labor and harvest. What draws your eye in this piece? Curator: What I see here is not just a pretty landscape sketch but an articulation of rural labor through the materiality of ink on paper. The artist's hand, in repetitive strokes, mimics the repetitive labor of harvesting. Editor: That's interesting! So you're seeing the process of creating the drawing as related to the work being depicted? Curator: Precisely. Consider the ink itself—a manufactured substance, commercially available even then. Its ready availability allowed for a democratized mode of art-making, far removed from traditional oil painting's aristocratic connotations. Editor: So, the choice of ink itself challenges some high art boundaries? Curator: It certainly gestures toward it. Think about the accessibility of paper too. This isn't some grand canvas; it's a commonplace material, aligning the work with the everyday experiences of the agricultural worker represented. How does the title intersect with your interpretation? Editor: Hmm, it puts the focus on the stork, almost making the back-breaking work of harvesting a secondary element in the drawing. Curator: Perhaps Syberg is inviting us to question that very hierarchy – to consider the ‘insignificant’ details of labor with as much scrutiny as we might the natural world. Thank you, I hadn't considered that tension. Editor: Thank you! I hadn't considered all the layers of meaning conveyed just by the artist's choice of common materials.