Studie af provst F.C. Gutfeld efter kopi af E.C. Harboes portræt. Kopien på Frederiksborg 1930 - 1938

This sketch of F.C. Gutfeld, made by Niels Larsen Stevns, is a copy of a portrait by E.C. Harboe. It’s all about the line here; you can see the artist searching for it, feeling it out, and not trying to be too precious. It’s a study, so the art making itself is the subject. Look at the way the lines build up around the head, creating a sense of volume and shadow. It's kind of tender, how the artist coaxes the face out of the blank page. You get a real sense of the hand moving, responding, adjusting. There’s also some additional doodles on the page that give you a sense of the artist at work, maybe thinking about other things while he draws. I'm reminded of the drawings of Van Gogh, or perhaps even some of Philip Guston's more raw and expressive works. It’s not about perfection, it's about the messy, beautiful process of trying to see.