Figurstudie efter? 1864 - 1941

This pencil sketch of a reclining figure by Niels Larsen Stevns sits on the creamy page of a sketchbook. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving lightly and quickly, mapping out the contours of the body with delicate, tentative lines. I imagine Stevns in his studio, squinting at the model, trying to capture the essence of the pose with just a few strokes. Was he thinking about Ingres or maybe some old master drawing? I wonder what it’s like to feel that urgency, to want to translate what you see onto paper. Look at the way the lines cluster and thicken in certain areas, suggesting weight, volume, shadow. It’s like he’s building the figure from the inside out, letting the lines find their way organically. It's amazing how much information he conveys with so little. There’s something so direct and honest about this kind of drawing, isn’t there? It reminds us that art-making is an ongoing conversation, a constant process of learning, experimenting, and reinterpreting the world around us.