Skitser af dyreskeletter 1864 - 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made these sketches of animal skeletons on paper, likely with graphite or charcoal. I can imagine the artist's hand moving across the page, quickly trying to capture the essence of each form. It feels like a study, a practice in seeing. The lines are light, searching, like the artist is feeling out the shapes rather than defining them. There's something so intimate about a sketch; you're witnessing the artist's thought process in real-time. The bare bones of these animal heads are beautifully morbid! I wonder what Stevns was thinking about as he drew—was he interested in anatomy, or perhaps in the symbolism of death and decay? Artists are always talking to each other across time. These sketches remind me a little bit of Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings, and of course, all those vanitas paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Drawing is just such a fundamental act. It's a way of understanding the world, not just representing it, and it's an ongoing conversation between artists, bouncing ideas off each other, inspiring each other's creativity.