Der laa han i hele 2 Dage... 1928

Curator: Immediately, I’m struck by the sense of melancholy the stark ink evokes. It feels almost like a forgotten memory sketched in haste. Editor: We are looking at "Der laa han i hele 2 Dage…", an ink drawing by Fritz Syberg, completed in 1928 and currently held at the SMK, Statens Museum for Kunst. The title translates to something like, "There he lay for two whole days…". The image portrays a landscape scene with reeds and several ducks or geese in the water. Curator: Yes, the reed lines are intensely crowded, like bars almost, hemming in those few birds in the center. One apart from the two main ones. Considering the title now, does that one that "lay for two whole days" make sense, then? A queerly framed funerary sketch... I immediately question: whose lament is it, who sees it this way, and what socio-cultural meanings could be behind the ducks representing those that stay still and unseen? Editor: Well, Syberg's life was punctuated by grief, the early loss of his first wife in particular haunted him. And you have to remember that artistic portrayals of the Danish countryside in this period were intensely loaded politically. After the loss of territory to Germany, representations of idyllic landscapes became powerful signifiers of national identity and resilience, of claiming sovereignty. How, then, does grief work within expressions of sovereignty? What might seem like a spontaneous sketch could hold potent national allegory. Curator: Absolutely, the personal grief and larger narrative definitely add new depths, complicating the image. It forces me to reflect on landscape not just as an aesthetic backdrop but as a space loaded with both private emotion and public declaration. Is it truly just mourning a duck that lay dead for two days? Are we to reflect more deeply on this sketch and its purpose? Editor: Perhaps. I think Syberg uses what looks like a simple drawing to show just how intertwined the personal and political spheres actually were and remain. Thanks for sharing your perspective. Curator: Thank you. I walk away looking and reflecting more deeply.