At Statens Museum for Kunst we sometimes come across the backs of works that tell us something about the lives of artists. This is the case with these sketches by Viggo Johansen and Kai Nielsen. The drawings are on the back of a bill and a menu, and were not intended to be seen as finished works by the artists. They probably did not think about what they were drawing on, just grabbing whatever was at hand.
Viggo Johansen has done a sketch of two men on the back of a bill for two velvet ribbons and a clothing repair made out to his wife. Kai Nielsen’s quick sketch of Leda and the Swan is on the back of a menu from Hotel Norge in Bergen, where on May 13t, 1918 a three-course dinner for 5.5 Norwegian crowns included roast veal with gravy and vanilla blancmange.
