Lette skitser af ko eller kalv 1864 - 1941

Curator: This page of sketches comes from a sketchbook by Niels Larsen Stevns, active between 1864 and 1941. He has titled them "Lette skitser af ko eller kalv," which translates to "Light Sketches of a Cow or Calf." What catches your eye first? Editor: The delicacy of line, certainly. These forms are barely there, almost hesitant. The gray pencil against the warm paper creates an intimacy. It’s as if we're looking over the artist’s shoulder at his private contemplations. Curator: And contemplations they are! The cow and calf, particularly within the rural landscape, has long served as a symbol of nurturing and the maternal bond in European art. Stevns was deeply influenced by symbolism, drawn to imagery loaded with these sorts of archetypes. Editor: I see what you mean about nurturing, although he seems to focus only on heads of these animals. His treatment, however, pulls them from any straightforward narrative. Notice the recurring arcs, the near-abstract rendering of form through repetition. Curator: Stevns aimed to extract an underlying essence. The curves you observe reflect the symbolic meaning of the figures; the sketches speak to cyclical patterns, growth, and nature's persistent renewal. By removing specific context, Stevns asks the viewer to confront the core emotional weight of this relationship. Editor: An interesting observation. Structurally, the soft, smudged quality is more evocative for me. I would see that approach through pencil and paper more as evidence for spontaneity of this approach. What may be interpreted symbolically as cyclical or emotional, also might reflect nothing more than compositional study. Curator: Perhaps both. The immediacy and personal expression blend to reveal a focus on core artistic questions; the drawing’s raw materiality combines to project essential themes, both formal and emotive. Editor: That blend really defines what I am feeling too; from its textures to suggestive depictions. It's a glimpse into an artistic process that feels surprisingly intimate. Curator: Agreed. Niels Larsen Stevns lets us share in something quite special in this understated sketchbook page.