Blyantsskitser samt forskellige notater og udregninger 1904

This is a sheet of studies, notes and sketches by Niels Larsen Stevns. Looking at this page, I feel like I am rifling through the artist’s mind, catching glimpses of thoughts as they emerge. See the way he has moved the pencil across the page, mapping out an idea, then scratching through it, moving on. Here are some human heads in profile, there a quick scribble of numbers. It is a messy, chaotic process, a kind of archeology of the self. I imagine him walking around with this paper in his pocket, pulling it out to capture a thought before it disappears. There are faint water stains and smudges, as if the paper has absorbed the very air around him. Maybe he was trying to capture a likeness, or maybe he was trying to understand something about the world. Either way, this sheet of paper offers a privileged view into the mind of the artist at work. Like a painter's ongoing conversation, artists inspire each other, and creativity flourishes.