Kompositionsskitse til landskabsbillede? Fortsæter over midten 1932 - 1935

Curator: This is "Kompositionsskitse til landskabsbillede? Fortsætter over midten", a compositional sketch for a landscape, created by Niels Larsen Stevns between 1932 and 1935. The work, rendered in pencil and graphite on paper, resides in the collection of the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: Immediately, the rough, almost frantic lines create a sense of unease. The geometric forms seem to be straining against the implied structure. There is an energy in its incompleteness that I find rather compelling. Curator: It's fascinating to consider the context in which Stevns was working. The interwar period in Denmark was marked by significant social and political changes, and many artists were grappling with abstraction as a way to respond to those upheavals. Editor: And is Stevns’ artistic approach informed by the gender politics or any social elements that may reflect that abstraction, like a societal parallel in the seeming incompleteness? How does this fit in the historical contexts? Curator: That’s an astute question. We can consider how Stevns positioned himself in relation to these evolving art historical debates of the era. Editor: In viewing this piece, the raw strokes, can tell of urgency, like an intense capture. But does this abstraction of place carry symbolic or metaphoric representation within itself? The social climate, maybe? Curator: The lack of precise representational details might signal the artist's discomfort or even alienation, with the changing face of the Danish landscape during that time, given his interest in landscape. Editor: Looking at this composition and its potential title – "Continues Across the Middle" – the open nature gives viewers a sense of interpretation in what exists on each half and what each of those represent. Curator: Yes, but this piece is especially useful in illustrating art history. This abstract and political conversation shows it is a medium that is free from one true interpretation. It offers an interesting point to understand Niels Larsen Stevns in the context of that landscape art scene.