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

This is a study for a painting by Niels Larsen Stevns, made with pen and ink on paper. Look at those loose black marks – the artist is trying to get something down fast, maybe an idea that’s just come to them. I’m thinking about Stevns in the studio, rapidly sketching, trying to visualise this scene. The image starts to emerge from the page through trial, error, and intuition. Here he’s using a kind of shorthand to capture the essential gestures and composition. See how the pen moves quickly across the page, capturing the essence of figures and forms with a minimal, almost abstract, quality. Maybe Stevns was influenced by earlier masters, or perhaps a contemporary of his work. Artists are always in conversation, you know, building on what came before, pushing things further. For me, painting is about embracing ambiguity, allowing for multiple readings, and seeing where it takes you!