Figurskitser 1900 - 1904

Niels Larsen Stevns made this small, intimate drawing called Figurskitser with graphite on paper. Look at the way the marks build up these figures, they’re like ghosts emerging from the page! Notice the quick, almost frantic lines that define the bodies, so light and fleeting. It’s like Stevns is thinking out loud, trying to catch a thought before it disappears. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the paper, searching, finding, and losing the form. I love the sketchiness, how the lines suggest more than they define. Especially on the figure to the right of the image, the lines that define the face are so faint. Are they looking down or away? It reminds me of drawings by Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was also deeply invested in the human form. Both artists share a commitment to the open-ended process of art making. Ultimately, this piece is less about the finished product and more about the process of seeing, feeling, and trying to understand the world around us.