En tyrekalv 1915

Theodor Philipsen made this drawing of a calf with pen and ink sometime between 1860 and 1920. Look at the surface, how he’s used these tiny, energetic lines to capture the animal’s form! I bet Philipsen was trying to get the essence of the calf down quickly; it's like he’s racing against time, trying to keep up with its movements. You can see the shadow the calf casts on the ground. It’s so precise! I imagine Philipsen outside in a field with the calf; he would have had to think fast to get these marks down. Artists like Philipsen remind me that painting, drawing, and looking at art is all one big conversation across time. Each artist takes something from the other, building on each other's visions. It’s not just about what we see, but how we see and interpret it.