Rejsedagbog 1845

This is a page from Johan Thomas Lundbye's travel journal, a small book made with paper and ink sometime in the early 19th century. You can see the marks of a life lived on the road – the dense, spidery handwriting filling the page. Lundbye uses this portable format to quickly record impressions and catalogue the artworks he encounters in his travels. It seems everyday, but it's not. The book form itself is crucial. In an age of mass print production, the journal represents a personal, almost intimate mode of engagement with art and the world, one carefully assembled by hand. The artist's labor is evident in every stroke of the pen. The act of writing, a process of selecting and distilling experiences, becomes a form of art-making in itself. Ultimately, this simple book reminds us that art is not just about grand statements, but also about the accumulation of small gestures, daily practices, and the materials we choose to record them with.