Rids af et landskab (?) 1868

This delicate landscape sketch was made by P.C. Skovgaard, using graphite on paper. Look closely, and you can see the texture of the paper itself. The graphite is applied with the barest minimum of pressure; the artist's hand hardly seems to have touched the page. Skovgaard, a central figure in the Golden Age of Danish painting, devoted himself to the study of nature. He would travel the countryside and document the landscapes he encountered. For artists like Skovgaard, drawing was a way to capture the fleeting qualities of the natural world. Here, Skovgaard is not trying to achieve a finished masterpiece, but rather to record an impression. Think of how many sketches like this one must have been made, and lost, over the centuries. Only a tiny fraction survive. This drawing gives us a glimpse into the intimate process of artistic creation, reminding us that the history of art is as much about process as it is about finished objects.