Udkast til "Kristus velsigner de små børn" 1937 - 1938

This sketch for "Christ Blessing the Little Children" was made by Niels Larsen Stevns, but we don't know exactly when. It's all bold, confident lines in ink or charcoal, straight out of a sketchbook. I can imagine Stevns, rapidly capturing the essence of the scene. The lines are so expressive, creating movement and energy. The composition is clear, but what's so interesting about it is how reductive it is. Look at those figures – just a few strokes, but they convey so much. I think Stevns is thinking about how to communicate the feeling, the humanity, of this religious scene. There’s an emotional core, but it hasn’t been sentimentalized. I think he wants to explore the deeper meaning of blessing, of tenderness. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, or even some of those early Expressionist woodcuts. Artists wrestling with emotion and form and their place in the world!