En ældre kone, der står med en smørkærner 1902 - 1903

This is a drawing by Niels Larsen Stevns of an older woman with a churn. You can see the act of drawing itself in the very light pencil strokes and erasures, where the image is emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I think I can imagine Stevns as he drew this, quietly observing the scene before him, trying to capture the essence of her pose and demeanour. He probably began with the basic shapes, gradually adding more detail and definition. Maybe he paused, considering how to best convey the texture of her dress or the weight of the churn. There is a certain confidence to the line, but equally a wonderful fragility in his sketch. See the way he has described the circular form of the churn with a few gentle, curving lines? It's enough to suggest its volume and shape without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail. It reminds me of other artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker who captured the dignity of rural life. We are all in conversation with one another, building upon the ideas and techniques of those who came before.