Blank 1864 - 1941

This blank page in a book by Niels Larsen Stevns at the SMK invites all kinds of questions. What was the artist thinking? What do we expect to see when we look at a page in a book? I can imagine Stevns, staring at this blank page, feeling a sense of possibility but also uncertainty. It’s like standing in front of a blank canvas, right? The texture of the paper, its off-white hue, the way the light catches it... it all speaks of potential, of untold stories waiting to be written or drawn. Maybe Stevns left this page blank on purpose. To remind us that art isn’t just about what’s there, but also about what’s not there – the gaps, the spaces, the silences. It’s like a challenge to us, the viewers, to fill in the blanks with our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. And in that sense, we become collaborators in the making of meaning.