Lijnen 1875

George Clausen made this drawing on paper with graphite. The marks appear sparse, but consider how much the quality of a drawing depends on the artist’s hand. Clausen was interested in labor, and how individuals find their way amidst the economic structures that surrounded them. Here, each line is like a hard-won increment of experience, a testament to the hours spent honing a skill. You can see the material is very basic – just paper and pencil. But the way Clausen has handled these materials elevates the work. The value is not in the materials themselves, but in the labor and the intentionality of the artist. Ultimately, it is through understanding an artist’s creative practice, their tools, techniques and the social context in which they worked that we come to fully appreciate the depth of meaning embedded in their art.