Stendysse. Haldskovvænge 1911

Joakim Skovgaard made this pencil drawing of 'Stendysse. Haldskovvænge' sometime around 1911. The soft, grey graphite strokes capture a landscape dominated by a large, ancient stone burial mound. I wonder what Skovgaard was thinking as he sketched this scene. What drew him to this particular spot? Was he contemplating the passage of time, the weight of history embedded in the land? See how the pencil lines are so delicate, almost tentative, yet they manage to convey a sense of solidity and mass. The texture of the stone is subtly rendered with hatching and shading, while the surrounding grass and foliage are suggested with quick, gestural marks. It's like he’s trying to capture not just the appearance of the landscape, but its very essence. This resonates with the work of other landscape painters like Peder Balke who also tried to portray the sublime power of nature through very simplified forms. I think artists are constantly in conversation with each other, echoing and transforming ideas across time.