Brev til Baron de Geer med tegninger (verso) 1795 - 1798

Curator: Allow me to introduce "Brev til Baron de Geer med tegninger (verso)," a pen and ink drawing crafted by Nicolai Abildgaard between 1795 and 1798. Editor: It's a lively, almost frenetic composition. The stark contrast of ink on paper really highlights the dynamism. My eye is drawn to the bizarre bathing scene. Curator: Indeed. Note the allegorical figure, a sort of wild satyr or feral being, and the nobleman. Abildgaard, rooted in Romanticism, often explored complex narratives through figuration. Here we have this letter format combined with drawings seemingly unrelated to its script, disrupting conventional semiotics. Editor: The materiality of the work strikes me as immediate and personal, as if capturing raw, unfiltered ideas. The act of sketching directly onto the letter itself suggests an interesting disregard for established social or artistic hierarchies. A rebellion, almost? And, those people bathing look awfully cramped together. What do you make of that, then? Curator: Perhaps Abildgaard uses spatial constriction to hint at a social critique or to challenge the idealisation frequently encountered in portraiture. There may even be a symbolic layering. Look closer, the artist uses very few hatches to achieve impressive chiaroscuro. Editor: So, thinking about the creation of such sketches alongside written correspondence gives this an intriguing immediacy; this could offer an understanding of the informal settings from which the work emerged, and invite deeper insights into 18th-century material cultures. What were these artists working amongst, what did their studios and the artistic labour itself actually look like? Curator: Quite. The ink, the paper, they are vehicles for both aesthetic expression and perhaps, covert critique. His masterful control of line lends gravity to the most surreal components, compelling us to examine these symbolic frameworks. Editor: Yes, viewing the ink and pen alongside that playful content, as well as that writing, one could ask how these aspects were bound through art's own labor – where they took precedence or were in tension. Curator: Ultimately, Abildgaard delivers layered forms with his work, challenging us to unlock these enigmatic layers. Editor: It certainly gives food for thought and inspires curiosity about art’s everyday practices back then.