Prikken på næsen 1850s

Wilhelm Marstrand created this pen and brown ink drawing, "Prikken på næsen," whose dimensions are approximately 332 by 301 millimeters. The composition is structured around the artist's studio, with the depicted artist seated, palette in hand, as he playfully adds a dot to his baby's nose, much to the amusement, or perhaps concern, of the baby's mother. This domestic scene is framed by the tools and products of artistic creation: easels displaying unfinished canvases, brushes, and a completed artwork hanging on the wall, all rendered with swift, assured lines. Marstrand uses these elements to explore the intersection of art and life, suggesting that artistic inspiration and practice are inextricably linked with domesticity. The linear quality of the drawing, its focus on form and structure, invites us to consider how art reflects and refracts the world around us, challenging traditional boundaries between the public sphere of art and the private sphere of family life.