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

This is a preparatory sketch for the painting “Christ Blessing the Children” by Niels Larsen Stevns. It’s just pencil on paper, loose gestures really. You can see the horizontal lines of the paper through the sketch; guidelines, maybe? I’m thinking about Stevns and his process; there's a particular kind of looking that happens when you're trying to get something down, right? When you're trying to translate an idea, it shifts and emerges through trial, error, and intuition. It's a search to grasp the core of the subject - a search for truth! The hand at the top with fingers extended - is this gesture the blessing? I find myself wondering what he was thinking as he was drawing these different hands and bodies, trying to capture the right feeling, the right pose. Each mark carries an intention, a little bit of the artist's soul. It’s like he’s asking himself what it means to show compassion. Artists are always talking to each other across time and space. Maybe Stevns was in conversation with other artists who explored biblical themes. It all adds to the story, doesn't it?