Landskab 1928

Curator: Fritz Syberg created this drawing, titled "Landskab," in 1928. It's currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. It's an evocative landscape done with pen and ink. Editor: My initial reaction is that it’s bleak, almost apocalyptic. The sky dominates with these fierce, slashing lines. There is something very desolate about it. Curator: Look closely at how Syberg builds up texture and depth through the layering of those pen strokes. There's a raw quality to the mark-making. I wonder if this rapid application speaks to the broader anxieties and unease prevalent in Europe during the interwar period, before WWII? Editor: I see what you mean. But let's also think about Syberg’s position. He comes from a family of artists, closely linked to the Funen Painters. These were often people intimately connected to the land. So perhaps those lines aren't just abstract anxiety, but also a deep connection with, and perhaps concern for, the rural landscape. This was also the time of great technological leaps; industrialization threatened these close connections. Curator: Absolutely. There's a tension in the way he depicts the scene, almost a battle between the delicate line work on the horizon and the aggressively worked sky. What are his immediate surroundings during production? The pens, the ink; where and how did he choose them? Was it something that could have been easily attained or did it take weeks for the supplies to be available? And was he thinking about mass availability for art? It certainly doesn't reflect the artistic establishment of the period. Editor: I agree it’s interesting he employs what feels like an almost hurried sketch-like method. We can view it within a history of the medium but I think, too, the limited tonal range here might be suggesting a society stripped bare by trauma, economical struggle and shifting hierarchies during Syberg’s time. Curator: It certainly speaks to the power of simple materials used to render powerful emotions. Thinking of the sheer volume of work, one pen stroke at a time, really grounds us in the process of production, consumption and display. Editor: This has really illuminated, for me, the convergence of personal experience and historical upheaval captured within seemingly simple ink lines. Curator: And it reminds us of the complex interplay between artistic intention, available material and socio-political landscape that informs every artwork, regardless of how 'simple' it appears.