Blank 1930 - 1936

This undated, untitled work by Niels Larsen Stevns at the SMK presents a study in the poetics of emptiness. The pale expanse of the page dominates our visual field, bordered by the visible spine of the sketchbook, hinting at a larger, unseen narrative. The texture of the paper invites contemplation. The seemingly blank page compels us to consider the dialectic between presence and absence, challenging conventional notions of artistic expression. We are confronted with a tabula rasa, an invitation to project our interpretations onto its surface. The very structure of the artwork destabilizes the conventional artist-viewer relationship. It questions whether meaning resides inherently within the artwork or arises through the act of perception, prompting us to reflect on the semiotic interplay between the object and the observer. The piece's stark simplicity serves as a ground for endless possibilities, a blank slate for the theater of the mind.