Liggende nøgen mande- eller kvindefigur; muligvis studie efter klassisk skulptur 1914

J.A. Jerichau II sketched this reclining nude, possibly after a classical sculpture, on paper. The quick, searching lines remind me of a stream-of-consciousness kind of drawing. I wonder what it was like for Jerichau, sitting in front of that sculpture, trying to capture its essence with just a few strokes. You can almost feel him figuring things out as he goes, correcting, adjusting, and playing with line weight. See the head, how it's just a scribble of dark lines? It's like he's saying, "Okay, I don't need to define everything perfectly; I just want to get the feeling of it." This drawing feels like a conversation between Jerichau and the past, a way of connecting with the classical tradition while still doing his own thing. All artists stand on the shoulders of those who came before, riffing on old ideas and making them new again. It's all one big, messy, beautiful conversation.