Schetsblad met kindergezichten 1874 - 1945

Editor: Here we have "Schetsblad met kindergezichten," or "Sketch Sheet with Children's Faces," made sometime between 1874 and 1945 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. It’s a pencil drawing and, well, it kind of looks like peering into someone’s dream journal, a fleeting glimpse of faces. What jumps out at you when you look at this? Curator: You know, it does have that dreamlike quality, doesn’t it? These faces, caught mid-expression, feel less like portraits and more like echoes of memory. Imagine Cachet sitting in a sun-drenched garden, children flitting about. He captures them, not as static subjects, but as ephemeral beings. Look how lightly he sketches, almost afraid to pin them down completely! Does the sketch-like style and seemingly incomplete rendering give you that impression? Editor: Yes, definitely! It's not polished or refined. The faces are almost floating, and the lines are so delicate. It makes you wonder, were these quick impressions or studies for a larger work? Curator: Ah, a wonderful question! Perhaps both? The sketch might be the destination in itself, the aim wasn’t to capture perfection, but rather, essence. It makes you consider art not just as a product, but a practice, a meditation almost. Imagine Cachet simply enjoying the act of observation, the pure joy of mark-making. Wouldn't that be splendid? Editor: It’s a lovely thought! I initially saw it as unfinished, but now I see it as a complete expression of a moment. Curator: Exactly! The incompleteness becomes its own form of expression. You see, art has a wonderful way of reflecting back what *we* bring to it. It dances between the artist's intent and our own interpretation.