Saa skyndte den sig afsted... 1928

Curator: This striking ink drawing, titled "Saa skyndte den sig afsted..." – or "So it hurried away..." – was created by Fritz Syberg in 1928. It’s held in the collection of the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. What strikes you first about this piece? Editor: The urgency, definitely. Look at those slashing lines—they convey such an incredible sense of impending weather, and frantic movement. The goose practically throws itself across the paper! It's both unsettling and…energizing, somehow. Curator: I agree completely about the urgency. Syberg really captures a feeling of being caught in the elements, doesn’t he? The ink hatching builds up to almost create a sense of physical discomfort, mirroring the storm's presence. Notice how he uses line alone to build volume and mood; a whole history of social anxiety seems compressed into these energetic marks! Editor: Right, it's interesting that he chose such a seemingly simple medium - ink on paper - to represent something so tempestuous. Makes you think about the choices an artist makes in representing landscape, how line becomes weather and emotion so economically. Do you feel that choice makes this image a commentary on modernity? How do landscapes themselves reflect change and the political environment? Curator: Undoubtedly. Syberg wasn't simply documenting a storm, I feel he was representing Denmark and the shift in landscape ideology happening across the Scandinavian landscape: the rise of modernism through the experience of nature itself. Landscape paintings were for too long simple recreations. This, instead, offers something experiential. I also find the quick application mirrors that quickening pace of Denmark's own history and modern project. Editor: Absolutely. So the image operates almost as a social barometer of Denmark in the late 1920s? Representing a kind of shift or turbulence more than nature itself? Curator: In many ways. I think its enduring power lies in its layered approach: nature and nation; image and ideology; quick moments of experience that we can all identify with – a real achievement, even by Syberg's own standards. Editor: I am moved again by this unique perspective! An ending thought? Curator: This simple rendering captures what all artists seek. Experience made meaningful.