Portretkoppen van Joanna Lion Cachet-Cordes en een man met een hoed c. 1935 - 1940

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made these head studies of Joanna Lion Cachet-Cordes and a man with a hat with a pencil on paper. The lightness of touch is gorgeous – just look at the way the lines almost float across the page. It's like he's coaxing these figures into existence with the barest whisper of graphite. I wonder if he was trying to capture a fleeting moment or just the essence of a person. The way he's used line to suggest volume and form is also really beautiful. It reminds me of some of those quick sketches you see by artists like Matisse. They are just trying to work something out, to get something down. It’s a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation, a way of seeing and thinking that connects us to something bigger than ourselves.